I have moved this blog to footie review on my own host. I will still publish some of my posts here but to visit the updated and better version of the blog you will have to visit the new site.

PS: I am currently on a break from blogging due to my ongoing exams. Do visit my new blog once, and then please return after 6 january(though I may write something in between). That is when I will start blogging again and try to make the blog even better. Thanks for visting here and I hope you will return to my new blog in january
Until then, Goodbye.

Chelsea met Wigan , at home , in a crucial Premiership fixture on Monday night. It was a must win clash for the Blues as Manchester United had already beaten Arsenal a day earlier and needed the 3 points to stay in touch at the top. With Chelsea's impeccable record at Stamford Bridge, you could not blame anyone for not giving the Lactics a chance . But Steve Bruce, the former Manchester United captain, had other ideas and master-minded a draw for his club.


Avram Grant rested several of his key players, a decision which has to be said backfired at him. However, the players on the pitch were full-internationals and were certainly good enough to beat a Wigan side which has flirted with relegation all season. Therefore, there should be no excuse for the way Chelsea played . In the first-half ; the pace of the match was more suited to a training match, rather than an important fixture in the title run-in and Chelsea managed to carve only 2 or 3 openings. After the break Joe Cole was introduced and he played with more flair than the rest of the team put together. And it was Essien who made the pressure tell when he struck from edge of the box. After that, Chelsea carried out their boring routine again, trying to shut out Wigan for a 1-0 win. But this time, this did not work as in stoppage time, Jason Koumas floated in a delightful cross into the Chelsea box and Emile Heskey volleyed home to silence the Chelsea faithful. Grant was dumbfounded, and you can see the pressure building on him when the final whistle was met by a chorus of boos.

So this result puts Chelsea in a precarious position, 5 points behind of Manchester United and 4 points ahead of Arsenal. Although United now have one hand on the coveted Premiership trophy, Chelsea are not out of it yet as manypeople have suggested. A win for Chelsea at Everton and a loss for United at Blackburn can make the title race a close affair again.So United must not think that its done and dusted and keep concentrating on the upcoming clashes, one by one United can win the title at Stamford Bridge in 2 weeks time and judging by Chelsea's run of pertformances, you can't discount United from ending their unbeaten home record that stretches back for more than 4 years.

I had not written on this site for some time due to my mock examinations. Thankfully they are now finished (They went quite well and I received good marks). Therefore, I will be writing regularly again. Let's start with a look back at this weekend's big match...



On Sunday, Arsenal travelled to Old Trafford to face their arch-rivals Manchester United, a match that has become one of the biggest fixture in the English Premier League. Two weeks ago, it was thought that this fixture would be a real title-decider, but now it was all about whether the Gunners could stay in the race for the title.

These are my predictions for tonight's huge champions league clashes.

Manchester United 2-0 Lyon

AC Milan 2-0 Arsenal

Barcelona 3-0 Celtic

Sevilla 2-1 Fenerbahce

It promises to be a great night of action. So don't miss it!

UPDATE:WEDENESDAY'S PREDICTIONS

Chelsea 2-1 Olympiakos

Real Madrid 3-1 Roma

FC Porto 2-0 Schalke

Here are my predictions for his wekeend's round of Premier League matches.


Fulham v Manchester United
Fulham need to get better soon or they will get relegated. And there is no way to rejuvenate the team and fans than a win against Manchester United. In the past, Fulham have troubled "United but they don't have the quality anymore to do so. It may not be a stroll in the park for "United, but I expect them to win by at least a couple of goals . Fergie will surely rest some of his players, and this will give others a decent run-out ahead of the business end of the season.

Prediction: 4-1


Arsenal v Aston Villa

Aston Villa are really playing really well and they do have a realistic of qualifying for the next seasons UEFA Champions' league. They gave the Gunners a tough time at Villa Park back in December, and I expect them to cause Gallas and co. problems again. Arsenal will be smarting from the draw at Birmingham and the loss of Eduardo, but I think their home form will rescue them this time arounf and they will get the 3 points they need in a tight match to stay top of the table.

Prediction:2-1


Chelsea v West Ham

West Ham have enjoyed quite a successful season, and they still have an outside chance of qualifying for Europe. Their home form has improved from last season, even beating the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool at Upton Park. But they must be fearing a Chelsea backlash after the Blues' defeat in the Carling Cup. Since then, various news items have been published about them in the media. I feel Chelsea will be keen to prove their critics round and be up for this match. Therefore, I expect them to register another5 win over their London rivals.

Prediction:2-1


Bolton v Liverpool

Gary Megson has made his Bolton side difficult to beat, especially at home. But their main problem is their lack of goals. Liverpool are going through an uncertain period, and Rafael Benitez could get the sack if they lose against Inter Milan on Wednesday. Benitez will have more than one eye on that clash, and he is likely to rotate squad yet again. Therefore, I think Bolton will be able to hold them to draw.

Prediction:1-1


Birmingham v Tottenham

Both sides will feel they can win this clash. Birmingham will be high on confidence as they got a draw against Arsenal, and so will be Spurs after their fantastic Carling Cup final victory. Apart from Mcfadden, no one seem to score for Bimingham and this could be their sole cause of relegation. Spurs are playing so well, I can't see them dropping points here.

Prediction:1-2



Other Predictions:

Everton v Portsmouth 2-1

Derby v Sunderland 1-1

Newcastle v Blackburn 1-2

M'Boro v Reading 2-0

Man City v Wigan 1-1

This weekend there was another twist in the title race. Arsenal slipped-up against Birmingham, and now Manchester United and Chelsea have a real chance of catching up with them.


Arsenal's day got off to a bad start at St.Andrews. Eduardo was stretchered off as early as 3rd minute due a terrible tackle by Birmingham skipper Martin Taylor. Taylor was deservedly sent off, leading many to believe that Arsenal will win comfortably. But Birmingham refused to be lied down, and Mcfadden gave them the lead with a great free-kick. After that, it was all one-way traffic in favour of the Gunners and Walcott scored two goals in quick succession to put them in the driving seat. But they were unable to put the game to bed, largely due to the fact that Adebayor and Bentdner refused to pass the ball to each other, and they were made to pay in the dying minutes when Clichy's clumsy play conceded a penalty which Mcfadden duly converted. All this meant that Gunners only got a point in game which they should have won.

On the other hand, Manchester United seem to be returning to their top form, as they thrashed Newcastle again, this time at St. James Park, Superb goals by Rooney and Ronaldo sent United on this way in the first-half, and Ronaldo got another to seal the victory early after the break. Newcastle did got a consolation goal, when Faye managed to score, but it only revitalised United and Rooney and Saha scored towards the end to rub salt in the Geordies' wounds. Keegan's problems on Newcastle show no signs of disappearing soon, and they can be sucked into the relegation battle if they don't get their act together.

Over at Anfield, Fernando Torres bailed Liverpool out yet again as he single-handedly handed them 3 points against Middlesborough. A Tuncay header gave Liverpool an early scare, but Torres, outstanding hattrick seemed to end the game as a contest. But Downing scored in the 83rd minute to give Boro hope. Aliadiere then got sent off to finish any chances of a Boro revival.

Now a brief round-up of other matches. Solano's late controversial winner robbed Fulham off a point at Craven Cottage. underland continued their wretched away record as they went down at Fratton Park, Wigan defeated Derby comfortably at the JJB, Villa continued their push for Europe with great result at Reading, Blackburn turned up a good performance to thump Bolton and Everton got the result of their weekend as they defeated Manchester City quite easily at Eastlands.

Everyone can see that Arsenal are wobbling. Pressure is catching up with them and the injuries have exposed their lack of depth. Only time will tell if they can save their season now. As far as the Premiership is concerned, most fans think that United are the favourites to win it now. They have got the squad and experience to cross the finishing line.

After a 2-week hiatus, Premiership is back this weekend and as always, there are some exciting matches to look forward to:

Manchester United v Newcastle

Although Manchester United thrashed Newcastle 6-0 only a few weeks ago, I am not sure what to say about this match. On paper, it looks a comfortable win for United. But sometimes sides raise their game when one of the 'Big Four' come to town. Moreover, United have had trouble in few of the away games. However, due to Newcastle's current awful form, you can't back them to win any game and I feel United's attacking threat will too much for the Magpies defence to handle again.

Prediction: 1-3


Birmingham v Arsenal

This is going to be a tough fixture for Arsenal. Birmingham managed to get a point at Emirates. They will be refreshed after a good 15-day rest and up for this match. On the other hand, Arsenal squad has some injuries and they will be tired after their European exertion. But Birmingham don't score enough goals and I think this will be the reason for their downfall yet again.

Prediction: 1-2


Liverpool v Middlesborough

Liverpool are so inconsistent, you just don't know which of their side will turn up. If you are a good side, you can't get beaten by Barnsley and then win again Inter Milan. In contrast, Middlesborough have had a run of decent results and they are unbeaten since the New Year's day. By Liverpool's expectations, this has been a disastrous season. Pressure is growing on Benitez but 3 points in this game will be quite useful for Liverpool in their quest for the 4th spot.

Prediction: 2-0


Fulham v West Ham

Fulham managed to beat Aston Villa but were well-beaten at the Riverside. They desperately need to find consistency in order to have chance of surviving and manager Hodgson needs to make the squad to gel as soon as possible. The main problem for Fulham this season has been their habit of conceding second-half goals, and there is a good chance this will be their undoing yet again.

Prediction: 1-1


Portsmouth v Sunderland

Portsmouth's home form has been nothing to rave about, and they struggled to find the back of the net at Fratton Park all season. But Sunderland's away form has has been absolutely pathetic (they have only managed to get 2 points on the roal all season) and I can't see it getting better anytime soon.

Prediction:2-0


Wigan v Derby

This is going to be an emotional return to his former club for Paul Jewell. But there is little at stake as Derby are already confined to Championship football next season. Steve Bruce has got his team playing some good football and they will be able to beat Derby quite comfortably.

Prediction:3-1


Reading v Aston Villa

Reading's home form was quite good early on in the season but now it has all gone pear-shaped for Steve Coppel's side with & defeats on the trot. Aston Villa has been good all season, reaping the benefits of a settled squad and I expect them to get draw at the Madejski, if not a win.

Prediction:1-1



Blackburn v Bolton

This is going to be an old-fashioned footy match, with lots of passion, flying tackles and yellow, and possibly red cards being dished out. Manager Gary Megson has made his Bolton side very hard to beat and they will be on a high after taking care of Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup. But I feel Blackburn will come up with the goods in this match.

Prediction:2-1


Manchester City v Everton

Everton have had an excellent season. They are still in the UEFA Cup and have realistic chance of qualifying for Champions' League this season. Manchester City have not been as good as they were at the start of the season and I think they will only get a draw.

Prediction: 1-1

Lets have a brief roundup of this week's Champions' League action.

Sir Alex Ferguson must be thankful that Manchester United came away with a draw from Lyon. As usual when United are away from home, Sir Alex started with a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with Hargreaves, Scholes, Anderson, Ronaldo and Giggs manning the midfield and Rooney playing a lone strikers role. Consequently United posed little threat going forward and it was Lyon who got the bulk of chances. But they were unable to take the lead until Benzema scored out of nowhere However, Ferguson did realise his mistake, sending on Tevez and Nani on for Scholes and Giggs on the 65 minutes mark. Instantly, United team showed much more desire and urgency. And they deservedly equalised when Nani's cross caused mayhem in Lyon's penalty area and Tevez stuck the into the back of the net to United a definite advantage ahead of the return leg.

Now, Sir Alex must accept the fact that Giggs and Scholes are no longer good enough to be automatic first-choice players. Moreover, the players are not comfortable in a defensive system. Even away from Old Trafford, Sir Alex should play our usual attacking game. Benzema's goal was exceptional, and Sir Alex especially congratulated the talented striker after the game. It now looks as if Ferguson has made up his mind to go after Benzema in the summer.

Rafael Benitez's job was on the line against Inter Milan, and he got the referee to thank who controversially dismissed Marco Materazzi early on in the game. But even then, Liverpool failed to convert their dominance into goals. The real turning-point of the game came when Ivan Cordoba was stretchered off 15 minutes from time. Without both of their first choice central defenders, the Inter Milan defence looked shaky and Kuyt and Gerrard took full advantage to score 2 goals in the last 5 minutes to make Liverpool the favourites to go through.

Another team that needed to fight back from a poor result at the weekend was Arsenal, but they failed to do so against a resilient AC Milan side. After a poor performance in the first half, the Gunners picked up a gear in the second to launch numerous attacks on the Milan goal but to no avail. Arsenal's best chance fell to Adebayor right at the end, but he failed to score from a header, with the goal gaping at his mercy. Now, Wenger must conjure up something extraordinary from his side to have any chance of going through to the quarter-finals as AC Milan have an impeccable record at the San Siro.

Chelsea were away at Olympiakos and the Blues manger labelled his side's performance as the worst since he took over. He was quite correct as Chelsea looked far from threatening and seemed content so soak-up pressure. In the end, they manged to escape with 0-0 draw and they were must fancy their chances against the Greeks at Stamford Bridge.

Celtic are proud owners of a very good European home record, but this time they were undone by Barcelona's brilliant attacking game. Credit must be given to Celtic for grabbing the lead twice, but two goals from Messi (how fabulous is he?) and an amazing curing strike by Henry (reminiscent of his Arsenal days) set up a great result for the Catalan giants to virtually seal their passage into the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, all the home sides were in ascendancy. Fenerbahce performed well again to beat Sevilla 3-2, Roma overcame Real Madrid despite going a goal down Kuranyi handed his side Schalke a narrow, but crucial advantage against FC Porto.

Results:

Schalke - Porto 1-0

Roma - Real Madrid 2-1

Olympiacos - Chelsea 0-0

Liverpool - Internazionale 2-0

Celtic - Barcelona 2-3

Lyon - Man. United 1-1

Fenerbache - Sevilla 3-2

Arsenal - Milan 0-0

After months of waiting the World's best club competition, UEFA Champions' League, is back with so many mouth-watering ties, you just cannot to afford to miss all the action. This is what I think will happen in each of the first leg matches taking place.

Liverpool v Inter Milan 1-1

Olympiakos v Chelsea 1-1

AS Roma v Real madrid 2-1

Schalke v Porto 1-0

Arsenal v AC Milan 2-1

Manchester United v Lyon 1-1

Celtic v Barcelona 1-1

Fenerbahce v Sevilla 2-0

This seasons FA Cup is fast becoming one of the best ever. The 5th round of the FA cup had it all; thumping wins, narrow defeats and a huge upset. Only 3 Premiership sides are definitely through to the next round (quarter finals). Therefore, there is a big opportunity for lower league teams to reach Wembley.

The most anticipated match turned out to be a very one-sided affair. Manchester United thrashed Arsenal 4-0, outclassing the gunners in every department. Both Ferguson and Wenger fielded under-strength teams, but no one could have expected that the match would be such a no-contest. In the first half, United produced one of their best displays of the season as Rooney, Fletcher and Nani all scored to make the game safe. Anderson, Nani, Carrick and Fletcher had a memorable match, probably their best performance in United colours. In contrast, many Arsenal players were completely anonymous. Fletcher rounded off the rout ( in the second-half), but it was more about Arsenal displaying their trait of being a bad loser. First Eboue was sent off for a horrific challenge on Evra. Then Gallas took out his frustration by kicking Nani, an action which also deserved a red card. Lastly, Adebayor received a booking for an outrageous and badly-executed dive.

Undoubtedly, the most surprising result of the weekend was Liverpool's home defeat to Barnsley. Nobody was giving the Tykes a chance, but they had obviously not read the script. As expected, Kuyt gave Liverpool the lead. But they failed to put the game to bed despite having numerous opportunities to do so. Barnsley did not give up, and they were rewarded for their efforts when 2 goals in the last 20 minutes from Foster and captain Howard sealed a historic win at Anfield and secured their place in the quarter-finals.But Barnsley's real hero was Luke Steele. The goalie, making his debut,made several world-class saves to keep Liverpool at bay. This loss has put even more pressure on Benitez with many people calling for his head. Many feel he would have to land another Champions' League crown in order to secure his job.

Chelsea also made it through to the quarter-finals, courtesy of an easy win over Huddersfield. The League One side did equalise once to give Chelsea a scare, but Lampard and Kalou scored to restore normality at Stamford Bridge to ensure another victory for Avram Grant's men.

In other ties, Sheffield United continued their good cup run to earn a replay against Middlesborough. Bristol Rovers became the only League One side to advance as they overcame Southampton at home. Portsmouth performed another smash and grab, this time at Preston. Cardiff ere too good for Wolves at Ninian Park and West Brom ruthlessly demolished managerless Coventry City.

These are the complete 5th round results:

Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Liverpool 1-2 Barnsley
Chelsea 3-1 Huddersfield
Coventry 0-5 West Brom
Bristol Rovers 1-0 Southampton
Sheffield United 0-0 Middlesborough
Preston 0-1 Portsmouth
Cardiff 2-0 Wolves

And here is the quarter-final draw:

Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea

As you can see, Manchester United and Chelsea have been kept apart in the draw.Manchester United will again meet Premiership opposition in Porsmouth whereas Chelsea face the prospect of a tricky trip to Barnsley. So a Man Utd v Chelsea final is on the cards again. If this would be the case, I do hope it would be very different from last year, when the two teams put Wembley to sleep.

Business advisory firm Deliotte has recently released the list of world's richest clubs. Real Madrid remain on top increasing their revenue by 20% to 236 million pounds. But Manchester United enjoyed a greater insrease in revenue to climb to second spot on the list. Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea respectively made up the rest of the top 5. A Deliotte official stated that due the Premier League's new multi-million TV deal, Manchester United are expected to regain their position as world's richest club in the next to years. Furthermore, 10 Premier League clubs are expected to feature in tyhe top 20 from next year.



But this rich list should be taken with a pinch of salt. Deliotte only considers the club revenue and not its costs and debts for this list, which is by no means an accurate criteria to assess a club's financial position. A more suitable indicator of a club's wealth would be the profits. For example, Manchester United still have huge debts. So how can they be the second-richest club in the world? Moreover, most fans care about their club's on-field success, not the position of their financial statements.

Anyway, for those of you who would like to know, here is the full list


1 Real Madrid £236.2m
2 Man Utd £212.1m
3 Barcelona £195.3m
4 Chelsea £190.5m
5 Arsenal £177.6m
6 AC Milan £153m
7 Bayern Munich £150.3m
8 Liverpool £133.9m
9 Internazionale £131.3m
10 AS Roma £106.1m
11 Tottenham £103.1m
12 Juventus £97.7m
13 Lyons £94.6m
14 Newcastle £87.1m
15 Hamburg SV £81.0m
16 Schalke 04 £76.9m
17 Celtic £75.2m
18 Valencia £72.4m
19 Marseille £66.6m
20 Werder Bremen £65.5m

Last week The Sun reported that Manchester United are chasing Lyon stars Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa . It went on to say that Sir Alex is considering a 40 million pounds bid for the highly-rated duo. Lyon's president has rebuffed United's initial advances, stating that he transfer will only be possible if United agree to give Christiano Ronaldo in return (nice joke, Mr. Aulas). But Sir Alex is not discouraged, and he may make a bid in summer. He was also present in lyon's recent Ligue 1 match with bordeaux, adding fuel to the speculation that Old Trafford might be the next destination for the talented pair.



How good the signings of Benzema and Ben Arfa be for Manchester United? Benzema, a product of Lyon's academy, is a striker whose game is all about pace, power and finishing ability. United's recent form has showed that they need a striker who can finish off chances with a high conversion rate, and Benzema can prove to be the final piece in United's jigsaw. Benzema can play with a partner or all alone up-front and I feel that he will integrate well into United's system of play. And with 16 goals in 24 games, there is no doubt that Benzema is one of the hottest players in European football now.

Hatem Ben Arfa, also from the youth set-up, is a pacy left winger wuth loads of trickery and a natural left foot.Although he struggled to get chances early on his career, he is now a fixture in Lyon's first-team. If he arrives at United, he has all the ability to challenge Nani's position as the long-term replacement for Giggs. The best thing about both of these players is that they are only 20 years old. Therefore, they are nowhere near their peak and have lots of time to improve.

So, will Lyon sell their prized assets? They can deciode to keep them in hope of more on-field success in the future and a team around.
On the other hand, they can also decide to cash in, just like they have done in the recent past ( selling the likes of Diarra, Essien, Abidal and Malouda). In the end it will be down to the players themselves. If Benzema and Ben Arfa decide to seek a new challenge, I don't think that Lyon will be able to stop them.

While it may just be a ploy to unsettle Lyon ahead of United's Champions' League match with them, this story has a greater chance of being true. We will just have to wait till summer to find out. And if Sir Alex manages to lure the Lyon pair to manchester, it will surely be a great coup.

The FA cup 5th round ties are going to be played this weekend, and most of the attention will be focused on Old Trafford, where Manchester United and Arsenal face-off for a place in the quarter-finals. Its always great when the two teams fighting it out for the league crown get to meet each other in the cup as well, because then there is much more at stake than just a spot in the next round.



Everyone knows that United are not top of thier game at the moment. They only managed to earn a point against Tottenham at White hart Lane. But the result that really hurt was the home defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Manchester City. The common thing between United's defeats this season has been Wayne Rooney's absence. The return of Rooney and Evra from suspension forthis matcha much-needed boost. Even when Rooney does not play well, he creates space for Ronaldo, Tevez and others to exploit. Saha might also return,but you can never be sure aboput this piece of news.

And everyone knows that Arsenal are on a roll. Top of the Pemier with a 5 point cushion, they have good chance of doing well n the Champions' league too.Adebayor has been their key man this season. The lanky striker has added another dimension to the Gunners' play; they can now play long-balls when their normal passing game does not work.

For United to have a decent chance of winning, it is imperative that Sir Alex gets his team selection right. Its a no-brainer that Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra will make up the defense, Rooney and tevez will play up-top and Ronaldo will marshall the right-wing. But the rest of the 3 midfield positions are centre of much debate. Sir Alex should go with Anderson and Hargreaves In the mid-field as I think that they are our best pairing. Giggs should take his customary position at the left-wing. He is no longer the Wing Wizard he once was, but United need his experience in this match.

Matches between te big-fours are not always classic, But games between Arsenal and Manchester are a general exception to this statement. I think the first-half is going to be a bit cagey, but the secnd is going to be more open and exciting. And if there is an early goal, we will be in for a real treat.

To put it simply, United need to win this match more than Arsenal to restore pride and momentum. And with Rooney, United are simply a different team. I feel the Red Devils will be too strong on tyhe day and will beat Arsenal by a narrow margin.

Prediction: 2-1

Let's not forget the other 5th round ties. These are my predictions for them.

Cardiff v Wolves 2-1
Chelsea v Huddersfield 4-0
Coventry v West Brom 1-1
Liverpool v Barnsley 4-0
Sheffield United v Middlesborough 1-1
Preston v Portsmouth 0-1

With the huge FA cup weekend coming up, you would have thought that the tabloid headlines would revolve around the Manchester United-Arsenal match. But instead it has been the Premier Laegue greatest act that has been the centre of attention lately ; for those of you who don't know yet, Premier League's all 20 clubs have agreed to explore the possibility of playing mathes abroad by extending the season to 39 games. The extra 10 matches will be played in 5 venues over a weekend, with cities bidding to host 2 matches each. the matches will be decided by a draw, with the top 5 sides seeded so that they will not play each other. Most importantly, the points from these matches will count towards the final Premier League table. This proposal has faced criticism from all quarters and many "no to game 39" petitions have been set up.

I feel the clubs are considering playing games overseas only for the money. Each club will earn around 5 million pounds by playing just one game abroad. The Premier League claims the extra-income will be invested in the grass-roots thus benefiting the English football in general. In addition, overseas fans will be able to see their footballing idols in some 'real'action and clubs will have the oppurtunity to increase their fan-base. However' the proposal has so many drawbacks that I don't see it being implemented any time soon.

Firstly, player burn-out and fixture congestion has always been an issue with the managers. The lack of success of English clubs at European level and the English national team has been attributed to the fact that the Premier League has no winter break to allow players to rest. A mid-season trip round the world will only increase the players' chances of getting fatigued and being off the pace for the rest of the season.

Secondly, many countries will not welcome Premier Laegue's matches. Why would they want to lose their advertisers and sponsors to their foreign rivals? They will want to protect their own clubs and leagues. The football cheifs of Japan and America nhave already stated that they will not be interested in hosting any Premier League matches. With the AFC president also saying that Asia should give protection to its own Leagues.

The biggest flaw in the proposal is the draw that will determine all 10 of the extra matches. Consider this scenario; two teams are fighting to avoid relegation. One team gets relegated because it draws Manchester United in the 39th game but the other survives because it draws Derby. This should be totally unacceptable. If this happens, the League will lose its current position as a fair competition.

Majority of the fans have been criticising the proposal from day one. The "No To Game 39" petitions have received enormous suppport. Many feel that the English football will lose its football and culture, if the games are played overseas, others fear that more and more matches will be staged outside England with time. The League managers have had a mix response to the proposal. Many think its a farce, on the other hand some think that change is not always bad.

Here is what some of the managers had to say.

"What disappoints me is (United chief executive) David Gill phoned me and said 'keep this quiet, we are going to discuss it' and then it's all over the papers this morning. They can't keep their mouth shut down there.

"I think if they are going to do these things, they should have been enquiring and having discussions with managers and players before they come out with all this stuff and make an issue of it."
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson

"I'm not against an innovative attitude if it respects the competitive side of our league, if it respects the fans and promotes the quality of our Premier League."
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

"I don't necessarily think it is a bad thing. From what I understand, it has been well thought out. The trouble with a lot of people is when something new comes into the arena, they want to find reasons to knock it. I am not against change."
Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan

"Clubs could become like the Harlem Globetrotters. It will start with one game and then next year or the year after until eventually I can see us playing quite a few games in different parts of the world."
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp

"It's bad enough with international friendlies, let alone going overseas. I read the other day that games are going out to 22 or 23 countries. It's quite unbelievable, it gets everywhere, so I wouldn't be surprised, although there will be a few irate people. Can you imagine going to Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) and telling him 'by the way, you're not playing at home this week, you are playing in Japan'? I'd like to see it!"
Wigan manager Steve Bruce

"Is it April 1? I find it highly unlikely it would happen. I wouldn't think it would be a realistic proposition."
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with playing matches overseas. But either they should be friendlies or cup games. The proposal to play Premier League matches abroad should be dropped immediately, simply because of the criticism it has received. If the proposal is implemented, I fear Premier League will turn into a joke and many fans will not bother with it anymore.

Derby curse struck Manchester United again as Manchester City beat them 2-1, completing a historic double over their more prestigious rivals. Before the match, their was speculation that City fans might ruin the day for the Red Devils by not observing silence to the Munich Air Disaster, but it was the City players who turned out to be the spoilers-in-chief. United played poorly from the start, and City duly punished them when Darius Vassell scored from a slick counter-attack. Benjani then compounded United's misery, as he diverted Petrov's great cross into the net. United improved in the second-half, but City defence stood strong until Carrick managed to score at the depth, but the goal proved to be mere consolation.

This match showed that United are a man short up-front and Sir Alex Ferguson's decision of not signing another striker in January might continue to haunt him for the rest of the season. Moreover, Giggs and Scholes are no longer fit to be first-team regulars. Against tough opposition, Sir Alex must play Anderson and Hargreaves in midfield.

In the second high-profile match, Liverpool managed to hold Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge. It was a fairly tight game as both teams looked fairly matched. Cropuch did get three oppurtunities to score, but failed to make anything of them. Chelsea's best chance went to Ballack, but his volley missed the post by inches. At the end of the day, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was quite happy with a point, with Chelsea manager left to rue the fact they failed to close the gap on Manchester United.

This weekend's big winners were Arsenal, who beat Blackburn rovers 2-0 in the Monday night encounter to increase their lead at the top of the table to an impressive 5 points. Senderos opened the scoring for the Gunners with a well-placed header from an Eduardo corner. Arsenal were far from their best, and Blackburn threatened to equalise for most of the game but they wrer unable to breach Arsenal's solid back-line. Finally, Adebayor scored in injury-time to make the game safe.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa underlined the fact that they are serious about snatching the fourth-spot away from Liverpool as they thrashed sorry Newcastle 4-1. Th Magpies were quite good in the first-half and deservedly took the lead when Owen scored from a Milner cross. But Villa turned on the style after rthe break as Bouma and Carew scored to put them in the driving seat. Carew went on to score two more to heap more pressure on Kevin Keegan and send most of Villa Park into jubilation.

In other matches, portsmouth performed a smash-and-grab at the Reebok to beat Bolton, Tottenham continued thier revival to earn only their second away win of the season at Pride Park, Aliadiere scored for Middlesborough to hand them all 3 points against Fulham at the Riverside to push them further away from the relegation zone, Sunderland won yet again on their home soil against Wigan, Birmingham gained a valuable point at Upton Park in a match they were unlucky not to win and Reading's woes increased as they went down at Goodison Park

Here are all the results from the weekend:


Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
Arsenal 2-0 Blackburn
Aston Villa 4-1 Newcastle United
Bolton 0-1 Portsmouth
Derby 0-3 Tottenham
Middlesborough 1-0 Fulham
Sunderland 2-0 Wigan
West Ham 1-1 Birmingham
Everton 1-0 Reading

Although Arsenal are 5 points ahead of their rivals, the season is far from over with 12 games and 36 points left to play for. Many people are suggesting it's Arsenal's title to lose now, but they have to still visit Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge and you can never write off Manchester United and Chelsea. Whatever happens, this season's title race promises to be one of the best ever.

Derby County has become the latest club to be taken over by American Investors. Sports Investment Company GSE is the club's new owner, buying the club for around 50 million pounds. Andy Appleby, being the head of GSE, is the main man behind the takeover, taking over a place on the Derby board. Adam Pearson retains his position of the club Chairman while Tom Glick, an ex-chief marketing officer for the New Jersey Nets NBA team, takes over the role of President and Chief Executive.

The deal has good value for both sides involved. As the GSE has not incurred any debts taking over Derby and any previous debts have been wiped off, the club's financial future has been secured. The club will also have money to bring in new players , in infrastructure facilities and upgrade the stadium. As for GSE, they have bought a premiership club at the lowest possible price. Although Derby will go down this season, they have got every chance of bouncing straight back-up and stay in the premiership for a long time. If this happens, it will ensure profits and huge returns on investment for the GSE.

However,many fans are apprehensive of American ownership of Football clubs. They think that the Americans don't understand the game and they are getting involved in the game only for the money. It is true that investors want profit in return of their investment, but most Americans so have the best interests of their respective clubs at heart. You have to only look as far as Aston Villa and Manchester United to comprehend the benefits that come with American ownership. Every investor is not like Messrs Hicks and Gillet (who have destablished Liverpool to a great degree). Therefore, all fans should give American owners a chance and not slate them without any reason whatsoever.

In contrast, other fans get over-excited when their clubs get new owners, thinking their club will now be successful for sure. This has happened to a great proportion of Derby fans too. Many are already dreaming of becoming a established Premier League club, with some even going as far as to hope for a top-ten finish.Even Paul Jewell,the manager,has said "The people who have come in have the same ambition and excitement as I have to build Derby into a top 10 Premier League team." This is a very unrealistic aim, and it would be better for Derby officials and players to focus on more reasonable,short-term goals.

The fact is, with so many clubs getting new rich owners, spending lots of money will not guarantee success. So, Derby fans must lower their expectations. However, whatever happens at the club now, interesting times lie for Derby County ahead.

Today, Manchester United meet Manchester City for the second Manchester derby of the season. Being the first match that Manchester United will play since the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, it is going to be highly emotional affair. There will be a minute's silence before the match, and all United fans will be hoping that no City fool will disturb the mark of respect.

United are not firing all cylinders at the moment. They slipped up against Spurs last time around at White Hart Lane, managing only a draw. But Sir Alex has argued that the lost can be seen as a point gained rather than two lost. From Ronaldo and Tevez, nobody seems to score and the return of Scholes has given Sir Alex a midfield selection dilemma.

Manchester City have also experienced a drastic drop in their fortunes. their away form has never been great and now they have started to struggle at home too. Their defence has started to leak goals and their strikers don't seem to score enough goals. Now Benjani has cmpleted his move to City he will surely help them in the scoring department.

Rooney and Evra are suspended for today's game, which is quite a blow for United.. This puts an extra responsibility on Ronaldo and Tevez to score today. There is speculation that teenage-striker might be included in the starting line-up, but think he will be on the bench. motivated by the Munich disaster anniversary and the legend of Busby Babes,I expect United to go out all guns blazing. Given City's recent poor form and pathetic away record,able to cope with United's attack. Derbies are always close affairs,bu I expect United to be just too strong for City today.

Prediction: 3-1

Today's second match is a 'Big-Four' clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. No one can deny that Chelsea are on a run of real good form. prior to thier draw against Portsmouth, they had chalked up nine straight victories in all competitions,even without thir African stars,JT and Lampard. Signing Anelka has been a huge plus for them and strangely, the injuries have helped their cause, allowing Grant to pick a settled side on a consistent basis.

In contrast, no one can deny that Liverpool are in a sort of a mini-crisis. Board-room problems have coincided with poor on-the-field results. Already out of the title race, now they face a tough battle to for the fouth-place and Benitez seems on the bring of the sack.

The return of Mikel and Lampard will further boost Chelsea. on the other hand Torres is out for Liverpool which makes thier chances of getting a win at Stamford Bridge almost non-existent. I expect Chelsea to have lots of possessin and play thier usual brand of football. Like their recent matches, they will convert their possession into goals,making it very difficult for Liverpool. In the end, I expect the Blues to run out quite comfortable winners tonight.

Pediction: 2-0

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. On 6th February 1958, a plane crashed most of the passengers, including 8 of the Busby Babes. Various ceremonies were held to commemmorate the disaster, including the main one at Old Trafford.

All the international friendlies were preceded by a minutes silence to a honour the victims of the crash.

To people like me who were born long after the disaster took place, it may seem unimportant but I can feel it means so much to the Old Generation. The 8 Busby Babes who died were all incredibly gifted, well on their way to becoming the best team in Europe. But no one was more talented than the great Duncan Edwards, who people say would have become one of the best players of all time, if not the best had he not died so young.

'Duncan Edwards was and is still admired by all those who knew him. Bobby Charlton, England's all time top scoring player, claimed that he wasn't fit to lace Duncan's boots, and that he "was the only player that made me feel inferior". The former England manager Terry Venables watched him play against his beloved Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster and said he was the greatest player he had ever seen. Edward's Manchester United team mate Wilf McGuinness holds him in similar regard, and commenting on the Munich air crash stated: "We definitely did lose one of the all-time greats". Sir Matt Busby described him as "the best player in the world".'
Source:Wikipedia

Let's hope the victims of the disaster get the respect they deserve during the Manchester Derby

When Kevin Keegan took over at Newcastle United about 3 weeks ago, he was labelled a Messiah by the Geordie fans, thinking that he will bring instant success to the club. But since then events suggest that Keegan's time at St. James Park may already be ticking down.

The first blow to Kevin Keegan's second reign came when Alan Shearer, the Geordie hero, refused a accept a role at Newcastle. Most fans wanted Shearer to become Keegan's assisstant, or take any role in the back-room staff or the board. But Keegan was unable to do so. Many fans suspect this happened because of some animosity between Shearer and Keegan. to compound the fans' misery, Shearer said that Newcastle is not the only club he would like to manage.

The second blow was Jonathan Woodgate's refusal to come to Newcastle. Keegan needed sound central defender badly, and Woodgate was the likely signing. And Newcastle even had their bid accepted by Middlesborough. But Woodgate snubbed Newcastle, signing instead for rivals Tottenham. Moreover, Keegan failed to make any notable signings too.

The single-most incident that undermined Keegan was the board's appointment of Dennis Wise as director of football, without Keegan's approval. Signals coming from Newcastle suggested they wanted to appoint a director of football, and chairman Mike Ashley and Chief Executive Chris Mort duly did so when they appointed Wise to take up the post. The board said that Wise's job is to look after the transfers, not to interfere in the first team affairs. This move led Keegan declaring he is still incharge of the first-team too and insist Wise will appoint to him. But past evidence incidents Chelsea and Tottenham suggest that the appointment of director of football leads to friction between him and the manager as each one tries to interfere in each other's job. This unsettles the team and ultimately leads to the manager being sacked. This can happen to Keegan too.

To add to these events, Newcastle's on-the-field performance has remained woeful. Thay are winless under Keegan, drawing one and losing three of the four games they have played. Owen's goal in the last Newcastle match was the first the Magpies have scored in about 700 minutes. The defence remains as poor as always with the strikers seeming totally incapable of regaining their scoring touch. If their form does not pick up quickly, they could find themselves fighting relegation.

These incidents suggest that Keegan's second tenure as magpies manger may well be short-lived. I can see him not being in-charge come next season. Although in my opinion, Mike Ashley should stick with Keegan, allowing him to start the next season as manager. Until then Keegan will be able to assemble a squad that he likes and prepare them thoroughly. If Keegan till well into next season, only then he will be able to know the correct answer of the question; 'Has Keegan still got what it takes to lead Newcastle to glory?'

January transfer window is a time when nearly all of the teams try to bring in aa few players to achieve their goals, be it fighting off relegation , qualifying for Europe or winning a trophy. This year 's January Transfer window saw a record 150 million pounds (more than double of the previous record) splashed by the clubs, and some wierd transfers taking place.

There was relatively little transfer activity at the top. SAF and Arsene Wenger are not big fans of bringing in players in January, and therefore, they made one signings each this time around. Manchester United signed Manucho , a 24-year old Angolan striker, with Arsenal signing a Gillingham prospect Luke Freeman. At Liverpool, Rafael Benitez got his wishes as they signed Skrtel, which will give him cover for centre-back that he craved. Moreover, the 17 million pounds transfer of Mascherano is expected to go through in the next few days.

Unsurprisingly, Chelsea were the biggest spenders, manging to sign Serbian defender Ivanovic and a young Argentine prospect. But Chelsea's biggest signing was Nicolas Anelka from Bolton for 15million pounds. As I have said before, he is a quality player and a natural goalscorer, and eventually, can go on to replace Drogba at Stamford Bridge.

There was a lot of activity in mid-table,with quite a few of the clubs spending big. Tottenham manager Juande Ramos shored up his defense by signing Woodgate and the brazilian Gilberto from Middlesborough and Hertha Berlin respectfully. They even managed to snap-up Scottish international right-back Alan Hutton on the last day, and many people are of the view that he could be a huge signing for them.

Harry Redknapp has an uncanny naec of attracting quality players to the south coast, and he managed to do it yet again. Milan Baros arrived from Lyon on loan, whereas Diarra came in from Arsenal to strengthen the midfield. On the last day, Pompey managed to wrap up the signing of the unpredictable Jermain Defoe from Tottenham. Surprisingly, Redknapp decided to sell Benjani to Manchester City. Due to Benjani's late arrival in Manchester, the move hit a snag but has now been completed. I don't understand this transfer at all, as Benjani was playing so well at Fratton Park. Redknapp may rue the day he decided to let him go.

Generally, Manchester City find it difficult to sign players in January as Thaksin did not live up to his promises of spending miilions on big players. Apart from Benjani, their only major transfer activity was the loan signing of Nery Castillo from Shakhtar Donetsk. The same happened to Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, as they failed to bring in fresh blood that was so desperately needed.The fact is, when your team is struggling so badly, you can't persuade players to sign for you.


A lot of teams fighting relegation managed to make good signings, and some of them will be clearly responsible for keeping their team in the Premiership come end of the season. Top of the list were Middlesborough, who broke their transfer-record to lure Afonso Alves to the Teeside. The capture of the "Ugly Duckling" could prove to be huge coup to Southgate's team as he was linked with many European Giants. Birmingham manger Alex Mcleish was able to convincw his compatriot James Mcfadden to come to St. Andrews and Wigan snatched Marlon King of Watford from right under Fulham's noses for 5 million pounds. Speaking of Fulham, they made a number of signings including Norwegian giant defender Hangeland and veteran Lietmanen, but there are doubts wether they will be able to save the West London club from dropping down the Championship. Roy Keane was also able to bring new players which included ex-teammates Phil Bardsley and Andy Reid. Finally, even Derby managed to conclude many deals. Savage, Stubbs, Caroll and Ghaly have all arrived at Pride Park but I fear its a cause of too little, too late for them.

Many of the clubs have spent loads of money, but making expensive signings is no guarantee for success. Only time will tell which players are able to pull it off at their new clubs, and which players are labelled "big-money flops".

Something is different about Arsenal this season. Just when you think they are going to stutter, they grind out another fantastic result. This time it was a 3-1 victory over Manchester City, ending the citizens unbeaten run at the eastlands. Adebayor (twice) and Eduardo came up with the goals for the Gunners with Gelson netting for City. Arsenal have added resilience to their already brilliant game this season, and have shown that they have got what it takes to push United all the way.

And just when you think that Manchester United are going to go on a long winning run, they slip up at an away game. Thay did it again, this time against Tottenham. Berbatov gave Spurs the lead, and they outplayed United for the best part of the match, only to be denied victory by a late late Tevaz goal from a corner.The thing to note is United played much better after substitutions, and therefore Sir Alex should look to start with Anderson much more.

Chelsea played out a highly entertaining draw at Fratton Park. Anelka got his first Premiership goal for the Blues, but Chelsea's advantage was cancelled out by Pompey debutant Jermain Defoe. He also had a lot of chances to score the winner, but missed each one of them. In the end, Chelsea should be happy with a point.

As expected, Liverpool got their first win since Boxing Day, as they defeated Roy Keane's Sunderland 3-0. Peter Crouch netted his first Premier League for months, justifying the fans, who think he should be included in the starting line-up.

At St. James Park, Newcastle fans were left disappointed , as Kevin Keegan's men failed to earn 3 points yet again. Owen found his way to the back of the net again, but Middlesborough were playing very well and they duly equalised through Rob Huth.

In other matches, Everton were denied a win at Blackburn by controversial offside decision, Roy Hodgson got his first win as Fulham manger as his side beat Aston Villa 2-1, thanks to returning Bullard. Birmingham were held at home by an improving Derby, Bolton got their first away win of the season at the Madejski stadium and Wigan saw off West Ham's challenge at the JJB, courtesy of a Kevin Kilbane header.

Here's the video and the video link(in case the video does not work) of Manchester United's newest striker Manucho scoring a fabulous goal against Egypt. He has been loaned out to Panathinaikos for the rest of the season so that United could apply fo a sucessful work permit for him in the summer. Judging by his perfomances in the cup of nations, he might just turn out to be the player United are looking for and proove to be a big hit at Old Trafford. http://youtube.com/watch?v=hhpvLAFD0fM

Persistent problems with my internet connection have kept me from posting for the last few days. I have some posts lined up and hopefully, I will be able to post more in the next week. Anyways, Premiership is back again this weekend and here are my predictions for all of the matches.

Tottenham v Manchester 1-2

Manchesteq City v Arsenal 1-1

Liverpool v Sunderland 3-0

Portsmouth v Chelsea 1-1

Birmingham v Derby 2-1

Blackburn v Everton 1-1

Reading v Bolton 2-1

Wigan v West Ham 2-2

Newcastle v Middlesborough 1-1

Fulham v Aston Villa 2-2

If you want to contact me, feel free to do so at faizanelahi@gmail.com .

Here are all the results from an action-packed weekend of the FA cup. Unfortunately for the minnows, there were no major upsets and all the favourites came through unscathed. The closest we got to witnessing a giant-killing was at Anfield where the tiny Havant & Waterlooville managed to score 2 goals against Liverpool but failed to hold on to thier lead and went down 5-2. Arsenal defeated Newcastle thanks in no small part to Adebayor's brace. Anelka's fine finish and a great assist set up Chelsea's win over Wigan. Despite not playing at their best, Manchester United were able to defeat Tottenham Hotspur at old Trafford,making it to the fifth round as well. Only six Premiership sides are left in the competition,which bodes well for the chances of a team from the lower leagues to reach Wembley this year.

Sheff Utd 2-1 Man City
Man Utd 3-1 Tottenham
Liverpool 5-2 Havant & W'looville
Derby 1-4 Preston
Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Portsmouth 2-1 Plymouth
Wigan 1-2 Chelsea
Mansfield 0-2 Middlesbrough
Watford 1-4 Wolves
Peterborough 0-3 West Brom
Southampton 2-0 Bury
Coventry 2-1 Millwall
Oldham 0-1 Huddersfield
Southend 0-1 Barnsley
Barnet 0-1 Bristol Rovers
Hereford 1-2 Cardiff


The draw for the fifth round is out,and undoubtedly,the tie of the round is Arsenal's trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. generally,Cup clashes between the top sides proove to be really boring affairs but this match could be an exception. Certainly,it has all th ingredients for a classic. Arsene Wenger has already began the mind games,and Sir Alex is sure to respond. Let's see which master tactician comes out on top his time to keep Their FA cup dream alive. In other notable ties, Chelsea face Huddersfield town at Stamford bridge. It's a wonder how Chelsea get so easy ties against smaller teams. Moreover,they play at home most of the time. Liverpool also have a quite an easy fixture. They take on Championship side Barnsley. Finally, Bryan Robson faces his former club Middlesborough with his current side Sheffield United. Boro are no longer a side to be feared,and therefore,he should fancy his chances against them


Bristol Rovers v Southampton
Cardiff City v Wolves
Sheffield United v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Barnsley
Manchester United v Arsenal
Preston v Portsmouth
Coventry City v West Brom
Chelsea v Huddersfield Town

The oldest and arguably the best cup competition , FA Cup, is back this weekend. Here are all my predictions for the fourth round matches being played this Sunday (I wanted to write about Saturday's matches as well, but due to a problem with my internet connection, I was unable to do so.)


MANCHESTER UNITED V TOTTENHAM

In terms of sides involved, this is the tie of the round. Many peolple are saying that United's trip to Saudi Arabia will harm thier chances against Spurs-but I don't think so. The friendly against Al-hilal was played on Monday and since then, United have had plenty of time to rest. If anything, the mini-tour should leave United in a better shape for the remainder of the season.

Tottenham will be very bouyant on thier way to Old Traffod after humiliating Arsenal in mid-week. What a story it will make if they manage to take anothe 'Big Four' scalp in space of a week. And Spurs have never had a better chance of doing so as Manager Juande Ramos's cup record is absolutely brilliant. He has not lost a cup game in years and he will be eager to keep it that way. The front four-Berbatov,Keane,Lennon and Malbranque are looking awesome and at the moment, are capable of scoring against anyone.

Having said that,United don't have the meanest defence in the Premier League for nothing. Ferdinand and Vidic should be able to keep Spurs' strikers quiet for most of the match. This match is going to be nice and entertaining one as both sides will go out for a win. But I feel that United will be too strong on the day, especially as they are at home.

Prediction: 2-0


SHEFFIELD UNITED V MANCHESTER CITY

Sheffield United were one of the start- of- the season promotion favourites. But now they are languishing in the mid-table of the Championship with demands for manager Bryan Robson's head growing everyday. Although they managed to beat Bolton in the previous round, their form in the Championship has remained indifferent.

Manchester City has fallen off the pace lately. their defence is very strong, but they seem to lack firepower upfront. Furthermore their away form is awful. Therefore, I think the Blades have a chance in this match and I see this match going to the replay.

Prediction: 1-1


HEREFORD V CARDIFF

Hereford are the other minnows left in this year's competition and they have not got the credit they deserved as all the media attention had been diverted towards Havant and Waterlooville. Hereford will do the best they can against Cardiff, but its not going to be enough, not even to earn themselves a replay.

Prediction: 1-3

In the first semi-final of the Carling Cup, Tottenham Hotspur were finally able to break their Arsenal hoodoo, beating the Gunners for the first time in 9 years as they thrashed them 5-1. After along time, Spurs are on their way to Wembley.

In the first leg at the Emirates, Tottenham were clearly the better side and Arsenal were lucky to salvage a draw through a fluke Walcott goal. White Hart Lane and the Spurs faithful thought that this might be their day.

And they turned out to be right. But even more surprisingly than the result was the manner of the Spurs victory. Within the hour mark, they were 4 goals up leaving Arsenal with no chance of a comeback. The Gunners defence was totally unable to deal with the Spurs high-tempo attacking game as Jenas, Keane and Lennon all scored. (The forth goal was an own goal by Bendtner). Adebayor's 20-yard strike proved to be a consolation as Malbranque rounded off a thumping victory near the end.

Arsenal fans are arguing that this defeat was due to their young, inexperienced side. But you can only beat what's in front of you, and Spurs, managed to do it brilliantly. Moreover Walcott and Traore were the only youngsters in the side. Players like Diaby and Bendtner in addition to Sagna, Gallas and Fabregas are very much part of the first team. Arsene Wenger must learn from this loss. You can't field your second string side in every match and expect to get a good result. Wenger said that this defeat is a part of youngsters' learning process but a team's morale can never be high after a humiliating defeat at the hands of their most bitter rivals.

On the other hand, its celebration time in the other half of North London.Tottenham had made it to a final, and with Juande Ramos's outstanding cup record, I think that they have a decent chance of winning the Carling Cup. Now the more important thing for Spurs is to try and change their cup form into league form and sneak into a European place come the end of the season.

In the other semi-final, Chelsea managed to beat Everton by a single goal at Goodison Park, securing their place in the Carling Cup final for the third time in four years. Chelsea had a 2-1 one advantage from the first-leg, which meant Everton had to score to remain in the tie. Petr Cech turned out to be the main difference between the two sides as he made countless saves to keep Everton at bay. Credit must also be given to Chelsea's defence, who were able to survive Everton's onslaught. Finally,Chelsea were able to kill the game in the 69th minute, when Joe Cole controlled a long ball with a sublime touch and struck it past the helpless Tim Howard.

Everton would have to wait for another chance to play in a final, something which they have not done since 1995. But they can now turn all of their attention to wrestling the fourth spot from Liverpool,which will enable them to qualify for the Champions' League.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have continued to win games under Avram Grant. He now has an identical record to Jose Mourinho for the first 28 games in charge. But Chelsea's fans should not rejoice too much as far greater challenges lie ahead. The matches against Manchester United. Arsenal and Liverpool and the European powerhouses in the Champions' League will be the real test of Grant's mettle. I have serious doubts on whether he will be able to pass them with flying colours.

On Sunday a British tabloid reported that Newcastle are preparing a bid for Manchester United's Micheal Carrick. The report went on to say that Carrick is Keegan's top transfer target, and owner Mike Ashley is ready to spend 18 million pounds to land the Newcastle-born midfielder. But I think this report is based on pure speculation rather than concrete facts.

However, if Newcastle DOES manage to lure Carrick to the Tyneside, it will be a great signing for them. The Newcastle team is in free-fall right now and they need new blood desperately. Carrick is a sort of a player that can instantly shore up the midfield and bring creativity in a side that seems utterly incapable of finding their way to goal, even at home. Moreover, he can also play in a defensive role and his tackling has improved immeasurably.

But I don't think Sir Alex Ferguson will be willing to part company with Carrick, even for 18 million pounds. I know that many of United's fans are annoyed with Carrick's inconsistency and want him to be sold as soon as possible. I admit that he is inconsistent, but still, he is a very useful player to have in your squad. When he is at the top of his game, he can dictate a game with ease, spraying passes all over the field that are simply unstoppable. Furthermore, Scholes can't play forever and Hargreaves is very injury-prone. That leaves us with Carrick as the only alternative to partner Anderson in midfield apart from Fletcher, who is not frankly good enough to play first-team football (although his commitment is highly commendable). United should only sell Carrick if, and when, they sign another quality midfielder or any youngster gets promoted to the first-team.

Carrick to Newcastle is a move that has as much chance of materialising as Newcastle finishing in the top six this season. I for one see Carrick remaining at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future.

After months of speculation, Nicolas Anelka(real name Abdul-salaam Bilal) has finally left Bolton. Although he was linked with many clubs,including Manchester United,it is Chelsea who have signed him Manager Avram Grant is delighted that Chelsea have been able to sign their main transfer ,and many think they have pulled off a real coup. The $30 million that Chelsea paid Bolton to secure Anelka's services have made him the most expensive player in history of football.

Anelka's footballing abilities have never been in doubt . He is probably one of the best strikers in the world at the moment, possessing terrific pace and brilliant finishing ability. He is one of those few players that will score 9 times out of 10 in one-on-one situation with the Goal-keeper. He is at equal ease when he plays with a partner or alone upfront. Not only does he score goals ,but he chips in with quite a few assists as well. He had already scored 11 goals for Bolton this season,which is an outstanding achievement considering the fact that Bolton are fighting relegation.

It is Anelka's off-the-pitch antics that have blighted his football career and tarnished his image. He even got the title of 'Le Sulk' when he demanded a move to Real Madrid during his time at Arsenal. But I think Anelka greatly improved at Bolton and he is past his bad-boy days now.

Anelka has said that Chelsea will be his last club. I doubt this statement very much, but there is a great chance that this WILL be Anelka's last shot at the big time. This would be a huge motivating factor for him to do well. It will be interesting to see whether Anelka plays with Drogba. Although they may play together this season, the general feeling is that Drogba will leave Chelsea in the summer and Anelka has been bought to replace him. Regardless of the fact Drogba stays or not'Anelka has the potential to be a hit and other teams should fear his presence at Stamford bridge. He has a crucial role in this season's title race too. if Anelka fires,You can expect Chelsea to push manchester United and Arsenal all the way or the premiership crown.

Chelsea have also completed the signing of 23-year old Serbian defender,Branislav Ivanovic, from Russian outfit Locomotiv Moscow. He ahas already earned 9 international caps and partners Manchester united's Nemanja Vidic in the heart of Serbia's defence. Understandably, Old Trafford was thought to be his next destination. He was even linked with Juventus,Inter Milan and AC Milan,but Chelsea managed to land him in the end.Being a versatile player,He can play all across the defence and in a holding midfield role. In my view, has been bought for the future,with his current role being to provide cover for the first-choice players.This is partly due to the fact that foreign players take at least 6 months to adjust to the premiership. If he turns out to be anything as good as Vidic, Chelsea will have gem on their hands. His arrival will also signal the end of Tal Ben haim's time on Stamford Bridge,and I think the Israeli defender will be off to a mid-table club soon.

Chelsea have shown they are not afraid to keep spending big. Let's see if they take another dip in the transfer market this January.

Last night, Reading gave Manchester United a good contest and managed to keep United at bay for 75 minutes. But then, the inevitable happened and United went ahead. Ronaldo also scored in the stoppage time, ensuring another victory for the Red Devils and maintaining their top spot.

There were two major changes for United in their starting line-up.Hargreaves returned in midfield in place of Anderson, while park replaced Giggs on the left wing. Steve Coppell opted to have a go at United, and Reading had all three of their main strikers, Doyle,Kitson and Lita, in the team.

Coppell's strategy appeared to have succeeded when the first real goal scoring chance went to Kitson but Vidic kept him from scoring.United dominated the next 30 minutes but their finishing let them down and Hahnemann made a stunning save from a Hargreaves free-kick which looked destined for the top-corner. After that, Reading came back into the game and Kitson again had an excellent oppurtunity to score. With Van Der Sar off his line, he unleashed a great shot from range but the back-tracking Ferdinand cleared the danger to save his keeper's blushes.

In the second half, United re-discovered their rhythm, and Reading were forced to play a counter-attacking game. But the Reading defence stood strong and it seemed only a moment of brilliance will break the dead-lock. That moment duly arrived 15 minutes from time. Tevez chipped in an excellent ball into the penalty area which Rooney guided into the net through a deft touch. But there was a nervous finish for United as reading chased an equaliser. James Harper came agonisingly close to scoring, but it proved to be the last chance for Reading to rescue something from the game as Ronaldo scored in the stoppage time to finish a swift counter-attack to ensure 3 points for United.

In my view, most of the credit for the victory should go to the United defence. They managed to thwart all of the Reading's attacks, keeping yet another clean-sheet. Carrick and Hargreaves were quite good but Park looked distinctly average. Rooney managed to score at last, and hopefully, he will go on a scoring run again. Ronaldo looked off-colour as all of his 7 shots were prior to the goal were off-target. But he has taken his seasons tally to 23 goals already and no-one can blame him. United's finishing was poor too, which might persuade Sir Alex to buy another striker in January or in the summer.

After the match Sir Alex said:
"We had a number of chances in last third but we started to worry that we weren't going to get the goal."
"Credit to Reading who never stopped working and really made us work."
"It was a really open match. Our own attacking play wasn't at its best and more care was needed up front. We scored at the right time and held on."

To sum it up, it was a great win for United as Reading are a bit of a bogey team for them and they appear to be on course to retain the title. Now the team heads to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly. The wisdom of such a trip is disputed, and I do hope that there are no injuries to any of our key players during the tour.

Another premiership weekend is nearly upon us. This time, Manchester United travel to the Madejski stadium to face Reading. At this time of the year, all is looking good for United. Top of the table, with no major injury worries, and clashes to look forward to in the Champions League and the FA Cup. United's players have had a week's rest, and they should really up for this game. Although Reading's home form has been quite good, I don't see them getting anything out of this game.

Arsenal face Fulham in a London derby. The Gunners are suffering a little blip right now. They drew with Birmingham last week, and they should have been beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup. They are also missing Toure. Not only he is as solid as a rock in defence, he also started quite a lot of their attacks by virtue of his excellent distribution. Therefore I think this match is going to be a lot closer than most people think,but Arsenal will be able to grind out a result in the end.

Chelsea are away to Birmingham, and I see birmingham making it difficult for Avram Grant's side. They got a good result at The Emirates last time around,and this would give them a big boost. But I think Chelsea's superior quality will tell and they will get the 3 points they need from this game. Anelka will make his full debut, and he has a good chance of scoring his first goal for the Blues.

The Monday Night fixture sees Liverpool hosting Aston Villa . This season , Martin O'Neil and his side are realistically chasing the fourth place and they will be extra-motivated for this game. Liverpool are not playing well these days, and it seems doubts sorrounding over Rafael Benitez's future and all the boardroom uncertainity is finally affecting the players. I think this will be a really interesting match, and Liverpool will be victorious in the end, securing Rafael Benitez's future-for now.

This is what I think will happen in all the matches of this weekend.

Birmingham v Chelsea 1-2
Blackburn v Middlesborough 2-0
Fulham v Arsenal 1-2
Portsmouth v Derby 2-0
Reading v Manchester United 1-2
Tottenham v Sunderland 3-0
Newcastle v Bolton 3-1
Wigan v Everton 1-1
Manchester City v West Ham 1-0
Liverpool v Aston Villa 2-1

This is how I did with my predictions last week. Predictions are in the brackets.
Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham (3-0)
Aston Villa 3-1 Reading (2-1)
Bolton 1-2 Blackburn (1-1)
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham (1-1)
Derby 0-1 Wigan (1-1)
Everton 1-0 Man City (1-1)
Man Utd 6-0 Newcastle (4-0)
Middlesbrough 1-1 Liverpool (1-1)
Sunderland 2-0 Portsmouth (1-2)
West Ham 2-1 Fulham (2-0)
I got FOUR results right and ONE perfect score

Newcastle have announced that Kevin Keegan will be their new manager,who is making a dramatic return to management after leaving manchester city in 2005.He is already being regarded as a messiah by the geordie fans. Personally,I think his appointment is a good move by the club as they could not have found any better candidates for the job other than keegan.Also,I think keegan will be able bring some stability to the club and rujuvenate the side. Now I can see Newcastle making a decent finish to the season.Reaction to this remarkable news is certain to follow over the next few days.

Tom Hicks has publicly revealed what many of Football fans have suspected,that he had a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann in Amearica back in November and offered him the Liverpool manager's job. Klinsmann turned him down,and since then Bayern Munich have announced that he will be their new manager come June.Hicks said that the purpose of thr meeting was to have 'insurance' in case Rafael Benitez left to join Real Madrid or any other club.This meeting is what led to Rafa's infamous outburst against the owners in a pre-match conference in November.This is what Hicks exactly said:

"We attempted to negotiate an option as an insurance policy... if Rafa left for Real Madrid or other clubs rumoured, " Hicks told the Liverpool Echo.

He added: "Or in case our communication spiralled out of control."

"After George and I had our long and productive meeting with Rafa following the Manchester United match, we put all of our issues behind us and received Rafa's commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool," said Hicks.

"We never reached agreement on an option with Jurgen, and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany and coach a great club team.
"Rafa has both of our support, and our communication has greatly improved." (source:BBC)

I have no clue whatsoever as to why Hicks chose to inform the press about this meeting.As Alan Hansen has said,maybe he thought the tabloids will get hold of the story soon enough and it would be better to tell the world about the meeting himself. If truth is to be told The Sun did carry a story about the meeting back in november or december. This revelation has seriously undermined Rafa. When an owner offers the manager's job to somebody, it clearly shows he is not confident in the current manager,. I don't care what excuses Hicks mentions,I think what he has done is unethical,outrageous and disrespectful towards Rafael Benitez. I believe he has always intended to,and still plans to, get rid of Benitez. And now this revelation has effectively turned Benitez into a dead man walking. If I was Benitez,I would have left Liverpool now. In any case,I expect Benitez to get the sack by the summer.(I think Benitez and Liverpool should part company also because Liverpool are not playing well and have failed to mount a serious title challenge in the Premier League,but that's another story.)
This season,Premiership clubs' owners and chairmen have shown an alarming degree of impatience withe thier managers. Nine managers have already left thier clubs this season snd I think Benitez is the favourite to be the next one to go.

On Saturday, Manchester United faced managerless Newcastle at Old Trafford. Before the match, I had a feeling that United were playing against the Magpies at just the right time. This is exactly what happened as United notched up an incredible 6 goals a woeful Newcastle defence.

Sir Alex fielded his best available eleven players. Rooney and Tevez started upfront, Giggs and Ronaldo took their positions at either wing and Carrick partnered Anderson in midfield. in defence, O'Shea replaced the suspended Wes Brown.

The Manchester United players took a while to get going which resulted in a goalless first-half. Despite dominating possession, they failed to create many clear-cut chances, making the Newcastle defence look unusually good. United had two good penalty shouts, but I can't blame Rob Styles for not giving them. It was Newcastle who were most hard-done by, as Owen's strike was ruled out due a wrong offside flag.

And Newcastle were made to rue the mistake by the assisstant referee as United turned on the style in the second-half. The Magpies defence was ripped apart countless times, and they had no answer to Man utd's passing and movement. Ronaldo scored from the free-kick to open up the flood-gates.Soon after this,calamitous defending by Jose Enrique and Shay Given allowed Tevez to score an easy goal.A simply sublime foer-man move led to united's third,with Ronaldo showing excellent skill and composure to control Tevez's pass and bury it into the net.Ferdinand volleyed in the fourth,scoring a goal any striker in the world would be proud of.Even after this,United kept up the pressure and Ronaldo got his first-ever hat-trick for the red devils as a deflection carried his shot past Given. Tevez rounded the scoring,when the linesman correctly judged that his shot crossed the line.Alan Smith did not agree,and the ref gave him a straight red when he foolishly confronted the referee.

Man Utd scored six when they could easily have scored beyond ten.Newcastle cleared the ball off the line four times and I lost count of united'ds total Goal scoring oppurtunities. Towards the end of the match,it was like men against boys,professionals against amateurs and a Premiership club against a pub team. Such one-sided matches are rare,and you really enjoy if the dominating team is the team you support.

Needless to say,Ronaldo was absolutely brilliant in the match,taking his tally of goals to 22 for the season.Also,it is good to see that Tevez's finishing is up to the mark.It is interesting to note that Roonry failed to score,but I think he will go on a scoring run soon enough.All in all,it was an awesome,breath-taking display of beautiful football by man utd.(That which othe football owners and managers crave for,most notably, Roman Abramovich).

As far as Newcastle is concerned,they need to appoint a manager as soon as possible and bring in a few players in the transfer window. If they don't improve their game, I think they have an outside chance of being relegated.

To cap off a wonderful weekend for United, Arsenal vould only manage a draw against Birmingham. (I think that the Gunners took Birmingham lightly, and missed their defensive stalwart Toure, who has gone for AFCON). After this performance, United should be able to hold on the first spot for some time, if not until the end of the season.