SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
| P | W | D | L | GD | PTS | |
| Arsenal | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 32 |
| Man Utd | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 31 |
| Chelsea | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 30 |
| Man City | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 29 |
| Tottenham | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 26 |
| Bolton | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 23 |
| Sunderland | 16 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 23 |
| Liverpool | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 22 |
| West Brom | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | -4 | 22 |
| Stoke | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Blackburn | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 21 |
| Newcastle | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | -1 | 19 |
| Blackpool | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | -6 | 19 |
| Birmingham | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | -2 | 18 |
| Everton | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | -2 | 17 |
| Aston Villa | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | -10 | 17 |
| Fulham | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | -4 | 15 |
| Wigan | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -15 | 15 |
| Wolves | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | -13 | 12 |
| West Ham | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -13 | 12 |
Hernan Crespo scored twice to help Parma put some breathing space between themselves and the drop zone as they beat Udinese 2-1. Fiorentina beat Cagliari 1-0 to move up to 12th, with Adrian Mutu grabbing the only goal of the game. In Sunday's game, Juventus cemented themselves in third place with a hard-fought 3-1 win at Catania.
Villarreal capped a fine week with a 1-0 victory over Sevilla, who slumped to their fourth successive defeat in all competitions. A Cristiano Ronaldo double saw Real Madrid bounce back from their Barcelona thrashing with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Valencia. Lionel Messi struck twice to give Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 win at Osasuna on Saturday after the Catalans had raced against the clock to arrive in Pamplona in time for the Primera Division fixture.
Newcastle United have parted company with manager Chris Hughton following a recent dip in the team's fortunes. The Magpies were beaten 3-1 at West Brom on Saturday, a week after holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw, although that result followed a 5-1 defeat at Bolton.
Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League table but Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion also impressed. However, Chelsea continued their recent struggles, when a late Jermaine Beckford goal earned Everton a well-deserved point in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge to leave Carlo Ancelotti's men with just one win in their last six league matches. Manchester City remain right in contention as they beat in-form Bolton 1-0 at Eastlands. Tottenham's run of four wins in all competitions ended with a 1-1 draw at Birmingham. Wolves' miserable form away from Molineux continued as they lost 3-0 at Blackburn, a result which dropped them to the bottom of the table. Stoke are above them on goal difference as they drew 2-2 at Wigan.| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS | |||||||
| 1 | Tottenham | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 10 | |||||
| 2 | Inter Milan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 10 | |||||
| 3 | FC Twente | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 5 | |||||
| 4 | Werder Bremen | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12 | -9 | 2 | |||||
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Tottenham and Inter Milan progress to the knockout stages, while FC Twente will play in the Europa League as Werder Bremen cannot topple them because of a poorer head-to-head record against the Dutch. Spurs need to match or better Inter's result to top the group.
Remaining fixtures:
FC Twente v Tottenham
Werder Bremen v Inter Milan
This column couldn't possibly be accused of hyperbole or exaggeration if we say that the week has been simply catastrophic. On Monday, Leslie Nielsen died. On Wednesday and Thursday, the Spanish teams playing for the Europa League did terribly, with the only exception being Villarreal. And to make matters worse, the joint Iberian candidacy to organise the 2018 World Cup lost to Russia. I'm pretty sure that my selective mind is eliminating some other disaster that happened during this week that would make me feel even more depressed, but all that was already enough, right?
Arsenal host Fulham, Blackpool welcome Manchester United, Spurs go to Birmingham City, Bolton go to Manchester City, Chelsea host Everton, Wolves visit Blackburn, Wigan welcome Stoke, West Brom and Newcastle clash and Sunderland host West Ham.
There will be no sympathy on show when Schalke face Bayern Munich this weekend with both clubs desperately needing a victory. If Hoffenheim win at Stuttgart, Eintracht Frankfurt win the Rhine-Main derby against Mainz, and the clash between Freiburg and Hamburg provides a winner, Bayern would drop down the table, although nowhere near as far down as Schalke are at present. Elsewhere, St Pauli host Kaiserslautern, Borussia Monchengladbach entertain Hannover and, finally, league leaders Borussia Dortmund complete the weekend with their trip to Nurnberg.
Qatar 2022 Bid Celebration from Kyle McDonald on Vimeo.
There are four bids on the table for the 2018 World Cup, with England hopeful of beating Spain/Portugal, Netherlands/Belgium and Russia for the right to host the competition for the first time since 1966. Five bidders are vying for the 2022 tournament: Japan, Australia, United States of America, South Korea and Qatar.
Here is our guide to the contenders for both editions, starting with the four bids for 2018:
How convoluted are the politics surrounding this Thursday's FIFA vote to award the hosts for World Cups 2018 and '22? Well, the first person I saw upon leaving airport customs here was Bora Milutinovic, the peripatetic Serbian-born, Mexican-based coach who managed the U.S. at World Cup '94.
