Wags & Stags

Welcome to Wags and Stags where we pit the Barclays Premier League's perfect pairings against each other as they represent their respective clubs in our fun-filled game. We've trawled squads around the country to select the Premier League stars - and their better halves - to "play" for their clubs in our contest of glitz and glamour.

A couple will represent each team taking part in the Premier League this season and be matched as per their club fixtures in a battle of brains, brawn and beauty.

Click on the match-up and vote for your favourites. We will then see how our Wags and Stags league table compares with the real thing.


Stag...

Friday MLS Forecast

The Forecast evaluates the reason behind the Eastern Conference woes before revealing its Week 22 picks.

England: Premier League Previews & Predictions

Blackburn's Saturday lunchtime meeting with Arsenal is the first of 10 Premier League matches this weekend. Wigan will be out to avoid another 9-1 drubbing when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur, a rampant Chelsea entertain Stoke, Manchester United host West Ham while Manchester City travel to Sunderland on Sunday.


Preview I
Preview II

Tom Adams previews Blackburn vs. Arsenal
Jon Carter previews Manchester United vs. West Ham

Lawro's Predictions

The Mill +

Friday's Rumours



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Spain: La Liga Weekend Preview

Real Madrid begin their quest to wrest the La Liga title off Barcelona when they travel to Real Mallorca.

Preview

Germany: Bundesliga Weekend Preview

Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund will be bidding to gain their first points when they wrap up the second round of matches on Sunday.

Preview

Eduardo Alvarez's Primera Liga Predictor

After experiencing the indescribable joy of witnessing my own team win the World Cup final, could I be bothered to write about the irrelevant minutiae of a two-horse national competition? (Expletive) yes! True wisdom lies in being able to make the most out of our daily/weekly pleasures, while hoping for something out of the ordinary to happen every once in a while... even if it's only once in a lifetime. Back to our weekly pleasures then. A new La Liga season is about to begin, therefore it's time for the Soccernet Quiniela to return. Let's start. As usual, it's '1' for a home win, 'X' for a draw and '2' for an away win.

Roberto Gotta in Italy

Once again, then, the best way to look at Italian football is by focusing on the pitch. If you really concentrate, you can block out the vision - and thought - of the negative stuff: directors and owners you'd like never to see again, unruly fans, agents who are taking over the airwaves and sports pages with their, er, objective opinion about their own players, financial instability and hyping of moderately interesting transfer deals. Just look at the pitch and follow the ball rolling about: isn't that, after all, why we started loving football in the first place?

Sid Lowe in Spain

Barcelona will again look to rely on graduates of their academy to repel the threat of Real Madrid in the coming La Liga season.

Ideologies clash as Barcelona and Real Madrid prepare for La Liga duel.

Europa League: Aston Villa suffer recurring nightmare as Rapid Vienna inflict damage again

"Your nightmare returns" proclaimed the banner held aloft by the Rapid Vienna supporters beforehand, and so it proved as Aston Villa were knocked out of Europe by the Austrian side for the second successive season on a night of crushing disappointment for the Midlands club. The match was within their grasp when Emile Heskey put them 2-1 up and 3-2 ahead on aggregate but, as was the case last year, Villa pressed the self-destruct button and allowed Rapid back into the game late on.

Emmanuel Adebayor threatens to leave Manchester City

Emmanuel Adebayor has threatened to leave Manchester City before the end of the transfer window. The striker is ready to move on if there is an offer for him before 31 August as he fears spending a large part of the season on the substitutes' bench if he stays.



Hey Ade! These guys might be willing to take you...

Europa League Draw

Manchester City face Italian giants Juventus in the Europa League group stage, while Liverpool tackle Napoli.

Masch Bound for Barcelona

Javier Mascherano has been given permission to open talks with Barcelona after Liverpool agreed terms with the Spanish giants.

Dominic Raynor: Off The Ball

The new season is upon us and Off The Ball will be scratching around the underbelly of professional football for the duration of the campaign to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, Manchester United's new £7.4 million signing is dropped from the reserves, Panionios fans dig up their own pitch, there is a phantom underpant slasher at Chelsea and Khalid Boulahrouz kicks a ball at a woman's head.

Encounter with Inter fuels Tottenham's Champions League adventure

Tottenham are alone among the four Premier League clubs in having a Champions League group they can really savour.

UEFA Champions League: The Groups

Group A
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Tottenham
FC Twente

Group B
Lyon
Benfica
Schalke
Hapoel Tel Aviv

Group C
Manchester United
Valencia
Rangers
Bursaspor

Group D
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
Copenhagen
Rubin Kazan

Group E
Bayern Munich
Roma
Basel
CFR Cluj

Group F
Chelsea
Marseille
Spartak Moscow
MSK Zilina

Group G
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Ajax
Auxerre

Group F
Arsenal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Braga
Partizan Belgrade

Matches
September 14-15, 28-29; October 19-20; November 2-3, 23-24; December 7-8.

Eduardo, Jermain Defoe and the Great English Hypocrisy

The crucial second goal of the night came to Spurs through a piece of outrageous cheating from Jermain Defoe. With a high ball coming in, Defoe clearly and deliberately controlled the ball with his hand, bringing the ball down to enable him to score the goal that put Spurs firmly on their way to the group phase.

What consequences then for Defoe?

Why isn't Tottenham's Jermain Defoe suffering the Thierry Henry treatment?

Last night, however, Jim Beglin, on summarising duty for ITV, could barely contain his laughter when replays of Jermain Defoe’s second goal for Tottenham against Young Boys showed the Spurs striker deliberately handled to set himself up for a glorious finish.

“He got away with it,” was Beglin’s take on an act of cheating on a par with Henry’s. Back in the studio there were broad smiles all round at half time, “more than a little hint of handball in that second but there’s no denying it’s men against boys,” said Adrian Chiles, as Andy Townsend, another Irishman, sort of, and Gareth Southgate chuckled like school boys.

Jonathan Wilson in Argentina

There is a prevalent sense that playing the right way is more important than adopting a more 'European' approach.

Argentina's romantic view of the beautiful game may be holding them back.





Yes, this is from River Plate's official website...

The Mill +

Thursday's Rumours




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Clubs await Thursday's Champions League draw

Chelsea, United and the Gunners are in pot one, with Spurs - who beat Young Boys 6-3 on aggregate to qualify on Wednesday - and Rangers in pot three.

Holders Inter Milan are also in Pot One along with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, while Real Madrid are in pot two.

Any one of the five British clubs could be drawn with Real in the group stages.

The English sides cannot play each other before the quarter-finals, but the trio of top seeds could face Scottish champions Rangers in the group stages.

Wahl: Is decision on Bradley nearing?

Is the endgame of the stay-or-go saga involving U.S. coach Bob Bradley finally upon us? The U.S. World Cup coach's contract runs out at the end of December, but the uncertainty over Bradley's future was a sizable distraction for the U.S. players in their recent friendly against Brazil (according to team sources), and I'd argue that it needs to be resolved before the U.S. team gathers next in October for exhibitions against Poland and Colombia.

Europa League Special: Tricky Ties In Store For Liverpool And Napoli

A potential banana skin is in store for Walter Mazzari's Napoli who missed a glut of chances in the first leg.

"We had 31 shots and 14 of those were on target. It is a shame that we only scored one goal," Mazzarri said after the 1-0 victory in Naples.

Liverpool nurse a one goal advantage from the first leg the Reds can coast through to the group stages by keeping a clean sheet in Turkey.

Roy Hodgson will have to do without talismen Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres who will both miss the trip.

"It's going to be a very tough ask for the players in a difficult place but if we come through it we'll come through it stronger," said the new gaffer at Anfield.

Gunners seal Squillaci deal

Squillaci is unlikely to make his Gunners debut until after the international break as he will not be involved against Blackburn in the Premier League on Saturday.

Wenger confirmed: "We needed a centre-back of quality and experience if possible, and at the right price - he was all of that.

UEFA Champions League Qualifier Leg 2: Tottenham 4 - 0 Young Boys

Kevin McCarra at White Hart Lane

Hytner: Classy Spurs begin with deluge

Norman Hubbard on Wigan

It is sometimes unwise to voice ambition. The lower half of the Premier League is populated by managers who make it their raison d'etre to downgrade expectations. That way, mediocrity can be presented as achievement. Roberto Martinez, in contrast, has often said that his objective is to take Wigan into Europe.

Glazers fail to pay mortgage on four shopping malls

The four malls are in Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado and two in Ohio. That means nine, or 13%, of the Glazers' malls are now "delinquent" or insolvent, and a further 29 centres, 43%, have so many units empty the rental income does not cover the mortgage payments.

Former France doctor claims 1998 World Cup team's blood samples suspect

France's battered football reputation has been dealt a new blow with claims from a former national team doctor that several players provided suspect blood samples just before their 1998 World Cup win.

UEFA Champions League Qualifier Preview: Tottenham vs. Young Boys

Tottenham head into their UEFA Champions League qualifier on Wednesday against Young Boys hoping to avoid a disastrous exit at the first hurdle of the competition.

Alberto Aquilani joins Juventus on loan from Liverpool

Aquilani, who has been capped 11 times by Italy but was overlooked for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, has made only 28 appearances for the Reds, scoring two goals in the process.

The Mill +

Wednesday's Rumours




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Paolo Bandini in Italy: Serie A 2010-11 Season Preview

There were fights on the pitch and in the boardrooms this summer, but the outlook in Italy is far from bleak.

Villa's delaying tactics may prove costly

It may seem early in the season for talk of must-win games - yet Aston Villa are facing two in the space of four days. And they will not only determine the future of caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald, but also test the commitment of American owner-chairman Randy Lerner.

Spain: La Liga 2010-11 Season Preview

Goal.com's KS Leong runs through the prospects of each contender in the Spanish top flight in 2010-11.

Taylor: Newcastle's swaggering striker Andy Carroll showing England potential

Andy Carroll wears Newcastle United's No. 9 shirt with pride but must lose some rough edges.

McCarra: Fulham show leaders of Premier League pack are no longer unassailable

Unfancied clubs are sensing some of the elite are now vulnerable, a feeling backed up by early results.

Turner: After sleepy World Cup, EPL Offense Refreshing

There is always something to enjoy about a World Cup, and South Africa was no exception. But the verdict this summer was that we'd all seen better. So much of the soccer was mind-numbingly defensive and the final was so teeth-grindingly short of the occasion. We emerged from the tournament nursing something like a hangover, squinting and groggy, with a bit of a thirst on.

Happily, the opening two rounds of the Premier League, featuring four -- four! -- 6-0 thrashings have arrived with a plink-plink fizz.

Tim Vickery in South America

Neymar saying no to Chelsea's millions and staying with Santos is being seen as a huge victory for Brazilian football.

This might be going just a little too far but more than anything else, it is a victory for common sense.

The 18-year-old is a magnificent prospect. He is sleek and skilful, able to beat the defender on either side, capable of combining well, and full of tricks he can put to productive use in and around the penalty area.

He is a goalscorer and goal maker but he is still raw.

Americans On The Continent: Erste Klasse Finish

Former Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan playing well in Belgium.

Americans In The UK: Keepers Take A Beating

Brad Friedel took a pounding on Sunday, ending a tough weekend for the usually sturdy American keepers.

The Mill +

Tuesday's Rumours



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England: Monday Night Football Reports

Manchester City 3 - 0 Liverpool

Phil McNulty at Eastlands

Kevin McCarra at Eastlands

Richard Jolly at Eastlands





The Sheikh likes his new toy...

Sébastien Squillaci unrepentant after forcing transfer to Arsenal

"If a French player receives an offer from Arsène Wenger, it's practically impossible to turn down," he said. "It was a sensational offer for me and I was happy Sevilla let me go. It was a difficult situation but I knew I had to take this chance. I knew if I played against Braga then I would not have been able to play for Arsenal in the Champions League."

Raphael Honigstein in Germany

After a major overhaul on and off the field, Hoffenheim's thrashing of Werder stood out as the best opening-day display.

Hoffenheim start with a bang as Bayern hand McClaren an early lesson.

Gallas eyes title challenge with Spurs

New Tottenham signing William Gallas believes he has joined a side that possesses enough quality to mount a serious Premier League title challenge this season.

Mascherano On Strike

Javier Mascherano is refusing to play for Liverpool against Manchester City on Monday night as he seeks to negotiate a transfer away from the club.

Monday Night Football: Manchester City vs. Liverpool

The battle of the challengers gets underway on Monday night, following their exertions in the Europa League. Both teams have aspirations to be playing at a higher level and, despite the opposing financial fortunes of the clubs, have claims to be pushing for Premier League title.

Top 10 French Players Under 21

Last month, France won the Under-19 European Championships on home soil by beating Spain 2-1 in the final. It was the nation's first youth title since 2005, when a side that contained Yoann Gourcuff, Abou Diaby and Hugo Lloris won the same tournament in Northern Ireland.

As that trio figured in France's ill-fated World Cup campaign this summer, hopes are high that the current crop of youngsters, known as the "1991 generation," after the year of their birth, will go onto great things. Below is a list of the most promising French youngsters under 21, all of whom face important challenges in the coming season.

Top 25 Goal Celebrations: Best and Worst

Telegraph Sport looks back at 25 of the most memorable celebrations, following Joey Barton's close shave with a Nazi salute.

Paul Gascoigne Plots His Return

Even by the chaotic standards of Paul Gascoigne, it has been a bizarre summer.

The Mill +

Monday's Rumours




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Martin Rogers: Misfiring Rooney Missing in Action

The absence of Wayne Rooney from Manchester United’s first stumble of the season shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. After all, the English striker has performed the soccer equivalent of a disappearing act for the past five months.


Chuck Norris can find Wayne...

Monday MLS Breakdown

Wizards ring in changes while balancing big dreams and playoff hopes.