England: Premier League Previews & Predictions

Chelsea's trip to Liverpool on Sunday tops the fixture list this weekend. Elsewhere, Arsenal host surging West Ham in a London Derby, leaders Manchester United welcome Everton to Old Trafford, Villa host Wigan, Manchester City go to Stoke, Spurs head to the Reebok to face Bolton, Fulham host a faltering Pompey side at Craven Cottage, West Brom are at Hull, Blackburn at Boro and two northeastern clubs clash as Sunderland go to St. James’ Park to play Newcastle.




Preview 1

Preview 2

Preview 3

Nick Webster's Predictions

Lawro's Predictions

US Soccer Intend to Launch World Cup Bid

US Soccer will formally announce its intention to bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on Monday, the US football federation said in a statement on Thursday.

Spain: La Liga Weekend Preview

Preview

Italy: Serie A Weekend Preview

Preview

The Mill + ++

Friday's Rumours


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Raphael Honigstein in Germany

After a serene six-weeks off it is no wonder Bayern Munich are among those angered by next year's shorter break.

Bayern emerge the stronger from the winter break

The MLS import Landon Donovan, a man Klinsmann has taken a shine to, has played surprisingly well so far and there are no injuries at all in the camp. It all smells like a Bierdusche (beer shower) in May.

Far superior to Gatorade...

Arshavin accepts lower wage in order to push through Arsenal deal

Russian forward happy to earn £2.5m-per-year

Germany: Bundesliga Weekend Preview

The Bundesliga is back after the winter break and there are some intriguing matches, with the fixture list reversing the games from the opening weekend of the season. Goal.com previews all the upcoming action.

Friday 30th January (all times local)
20:30 Hamburg – Bayern Munich

Saturday 31st January
15:30 Hannover - Schalke 04
15:30 1.FC Koeln – VfL Wolfsburg
15:30 Borussia Dortmund – B. Leverkusen
15:30 Hertha Berlin – Eintracht Frankfurt
15:30 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – E. Cottbus
15:30 VfB Stuttgart – B. Moenchengladbach



Sunday 1st February
17:00 VfL Bochum – Karlsruher SC
17:00 Werder Bremen – Arminia Bielefeld

Jozy Altidore Set For Xerex Deportivo Loan

Villarreal's Jozy Altidore is on the brink of completing a loan move to second-division Deportivo Xerez, according to a report from El Periodico Mediterraneo.

Hejduk added to U.S. training camp roster

Columbus Crew defender Frankie Hejduk was added to the U.S. training camp roster Thursday ahead of next month's World Cup qualifier against Mexico.

Goalkeepers: Jon Busch (Chicago), Will Hesmer (Columbus), Matt Pickens (Colorado).

Defenders: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Ugo Ihemelu (Colorado), Chris Wingert (Salt Lake), Marvell Wynne (Toronto).

Midfielders: Brian Carroll (Columbus), Ricardo Clark (Houston), Eddie Gaven (Columbus), Stuart Holden (Houston), Jack Jewsbury (Kansas City), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Robbie Rogers (Columbus), John Thorrington (Chicago).

Forwards: Brian Ching (Houston), Kenny Cooper (Dallas), Charlie Davies (Hammarby, Norway), Chris Rolfe (Chicago).

He will never go away...

Quotes & Chants of the Week

"Hull are the biggest club I've played for."
Jimmy Bullard after his £5m switch from Fulham. Miaow.

"I was desperate to swap shirts with Andy Johnson but I didn't know we were allowed to. It's killed me really. I didn't know we were allowed to give our shirts away. I thought it would have come out of our wages."
Kettering striker Craig Westcarr, whose two goals rocked Fulham in their FA Cup tie, neatly crystallises the gulf between the Premier League and the also-rans.

"Look at the feet, diamonds in shoes, beautiful by Lionel, he softens the hard corners of our lives just by watching him."
Ray Hudson describes Lionel Messi on Gol TV.

"It's good to be linked with players all over Europe."
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce on reports linking him with Egyptian winger Mahmoud Abdul-Razek.

"Kaka, wherever you may be
Have you heard of Man City?
Never go there,
It'll end in tears,
They haven't won a trophy in 33 years."
Wigan fans to Man City.

THE REST

Tony Cascarino: Rafael BenÍtez's caution is killing Liverpool bid for long-lost title

I have a sneaky feeling that Rafael BenÍtez is a manager who is happy to end the season with more points than last year. Then he can go to a board meeting and tell his directors that the team are improving and that everything is moving in the right direction.

The Mill + ++

Thursday's Rumours


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Italy: Serie A Wednesday Reports & Roundup

Beckham scores (see below) but Milan can only draw, Inter, Roma and Fiorentina win but Juventus fall to Udinese...
Reports
Roundup

Radio Shack won’t sponsor Mexican voodoo campaign

RadioShack Corp. will not sponsor a Mexican newspaper’s promotional campaign inviting fans to prick voodoo dolls to boost the nation’s soccer team in a Feb. 11 World Cup qualifier against the United States at Columbus, Ohio.

Eriksson’s Mexico continue poor run by losing to Sweden

Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Mexico continued their dismal run by losing 1-0 to the coach’s native Sweden in a friendly international on Wednesday.






Let's hope it continues for another couple of weeks...

England: Wednesday Premier League Roundup + Table

Liverpool draw with Wigan, late heroics from Robin van Persie salvage a draw for Arsenal at Everton, Chelsea win, Blackburn and Bolton draw, Manchester City beat Newcastle but lose Michael Owen to injury and West Ham down Hull City...

Roundup

Nº	Team	GP	W	D	L	Pts
1.	Manchester Utd	22	15	5	2	50
2.	Chelsea	23	14	6	3	48
3.	Liverpool	23	13	9	1	48
4.	Aston Villa	23	14	5	4	47
5.	Arsenal	23	12	6	5	42
6.	Everton	23	10	7	6	37
7.	Wigan	23	9	5	9	32
8.	West Ham	23	9	5	9	32
9.	Manchester City	22	8	4	10	28
10.	Hull City	23	7	6	10	27
11.	Fulham	21	6	8	7	26
12.	Sunderland	23	7	5	11	26
13.	Tottenham	23	6	6	11	24
14.	Bolton	23	7	3	13	24
15.	Portsmouth	22	6	6	10	24
16.	Newcastle	23	5	8	10	23
17.	Blackburn	22	5	7	10	22
18.	Middlesbrough	23	5	6	12	21
19.	Stoke City	23	5	6	12	21
20.	WBA	23	6	3	14	21

Richard Jolly at the City of Manchester Stadium

MANCHESTER CITY
2-1
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Bellamy steals the show

Robinho denies link to alleged nightclub attack

The Manchester City footballer Robinho was arrested yesterday over allegations of a serious sexual assault at a Leeds nightclub last week.

The 50 Worst Things About Modern Football

Football is one of the greatest things in the world but it’s not perfect. It used to be perfect. Before money and television and the Bosman ruling and Baby Bentleys and roastings and tattoos and takeovers and no standing and agents and prawn sandwiches and rotation.

These are the 50 worst things about modern football. It could have been 500.

The Mill + ++

Wednesday's Rumours


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England: Wednesday Premier League Previews

Blackburn host Bolton, Boro go to Chelsea, Arsenal go to Everton, Manchester City welcome Newcastle, West Ham host Hull and Wigan welcome Liverpool.

Previews

Impregnable Manchester United Clean Up

In keeping a record eleventh consecutive clean sheet in the Barclays Premier League, Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, also broke the top-flight mark of 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal, set by Petr Cech, of Chelsea, in the 2004-05 season. Van der Sar, who has not let in a goal for 1,032 minutes, will better the all-time league record in England — set by Steve Death, of Reading, with 1,103 minutes in 1979 — if he remains unbeaten for the first 72 minutes against Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Marcela Mora y Araujo in Argentina

River Plate feel the chill as the Argentinian season kicks off.

Return of Verón and Riquelme boosts Argentina's domestic scene.

Italy: Serie A Midweek Preview

AC Milan v Genoa
AS Roma v Palermo
Atalanta Bergamo v Bologna
Cagliari v Siena
Catania v Inter Milan
Chievo Verona v Lecce
Fiorentina v Napoli
Sampdoria v Lazio
Torino v Reggina
Udinese v Juventus
Preview

England: Tuesday Premier League Roundup

Wins for Manchester United, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Spurs...
Roundup

The Insider at White Hart Lane

Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 1 Stoke City
Spurs finally get it right