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.
I've seen plenty of examples over the years when sports and politics mix, when the world's most popular pastime and the pursuit of power combine to turn fútbol into anything but the simplest game. But I haven't ever been in the middle of such a palpably tense situation like this one in Cabinda, a complex landscape mixing soccer and politics, fear and violence, nationalism and rebellion.
There's a lot more than just soccer going on here.
Only one match in the EPL this weekend as Manchester United host Hull City. Rio is expected to make his long-awaited return. Preview is here.
Roma and Juventus will both be rooting for Milan. They clash 24 hours earlier in Turin with third place up for grabs.
The Turin outfit are two points behind Roma and desperate to return to winning ways having lost four of their last five games.
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||||
| RK | TEAM | P | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | W | D | L | GS | GA | GD | Pts | ||||
| 1 |  | Arsenal | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 59 | 25 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 14 | 34 | 48 | |||
| 2 | | Chelsea | 21 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 10 | 34 | 48 | |||
| 3 | | Manchester United | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 19 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 30 | 47 | |||
| 4 | | Tottenham Hotspur | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 24 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 38 | |||
| 5 | | Manchester City | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 42 | 30 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 38 | |||
| 6 | | Liverpool | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 40 | 26 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 28 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 37 | |||
| 7 | | Aston Villa | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 29 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 36 | |||
| 8 | | Birmingham | 21 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 33 | |||
| 9 | | Fulham | 21 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 18 | 2 | 27 | |||
| 10 | | Everton | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -4 | 26 | |||
In more than two decades at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson has been accustomed to looking upon Manchester City with varying degrees of bemusement, derision and pity.
Distaste has been a recent addition, since those “noisy neighbours” gained the hauteur of lottery winners. So it must have been through gritted teeth yesterday that he found himself acknowledging the threat that they suddenly pose to Manchester United.
Tournaments are like time speeded up - teams can suddenly come together, or fall apart. Each tournament has its own dynamics, so it would be unwise to draw definitive conclusions for the World Cup from a competition taking place six months earlier.
But if the Africa Cup of Nations is a good opportunity for five World Cup-bound teams to get some competitive match practice, it is also a great chance for their future opponents to do some reconnaissance.
