In a week's time we will know a near complete list of the nations who will be competing to lift the World Cup in South Africa. The first legs take place on November 14, with the second legs on the 18th. The African nations qualification process takes a little longer, so I'll be focusing on the Republic of Ireland Vs France, Bosnia-Herz Vs Portugal, Russia Vs Slovenia and Greece Vs Ukraine.

If English giants and 2005 winners Liverpool lose to Lyon in France on Wednesday night their Champions League dreams could be all but over. Should Fiorentina beat Hungarian outfit Debrecen (a very likely occurrence) Liverpool will be six points adrift with just two games left.

It makes for grim reading for the Anfield faithful, with their Premier League title hopes in tatters the Champions League represents a great chance for them to pick up some silverware and an exit in the group stages is virtually unthinkable.

Over the last few weeks I've been picking out the biggest derby fixtures from around the Premier League and elsewhere for my soccerondish articles. This weekend two of London's biggest clubs, and indeed historically London's biggest clubs before Roman Abramovic started the Chelsea revolution, meet in what is always massive fixture.

It may still only be October but should Liverpool lose to Manchester United on Sunday their title challenge will effectively be over. They've already lost four times in the league this season and boss Rafael Benitez's woes continued in midweek when French outfit Lyon pulled off a surprise 2-1 victory at Anfield.

On Wednesday night two of the world's biggest clubs meet in the Champions League. La Liga giants Real Madrid take on Serie A outfit AC Milan in what surely has to be the pick of the Champions League action.

The two sides have had contrasting fortunes in both league and cup this season.

There are just two rounds of qualifying left in the European World Cup qualifying groups and there has been some mixed news for all the sides still with a chance of making the tournament in South Africa from Fifa this week. The ruling body have announced that the teams who finish second in their Euro qualifying groups will be seeded before their play-off match.

Scottish football may have fallen behind some of the other European leagues in recent years but no one can deny that the Old Firm is one of the hottest contested derbies in world football. Both Rangers and Celtic have a massive fan base who create an intense atmosphere and Sunday's Old Firm at Ibrox should be a tight and hard fought contest.

Real Madrid spent plenty of money in the summer to rejuvenate their faltering team. After falling way short of eventual Spanish and European Champions Barcelona last season Los Merengues forked out huge transfer fees on the likes of Ballon d'Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, while Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso also completed big moves to the Spanish capital.

Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid are still seeking their first La Liga victory this season. In four games they've drawn two and lost two and they face the daunting task of traveling to Valencia's Mestalla Stadium on Saturday as they attempt to get it right at the fifth attempt.

Over the last couple of weeks my 'game of the week' style articles have focused heavily on English football, being English this is understandable but I will certainly be checking out La Liga action on Saturday night.

Over recent years the Arsenal youth academy has introduced some fantastic players into English football. On Tuesday night Arsene Wenger's side take on Championship high-flyers West Brom in the Carling Cup in a game where we may see the next crop of Arsenal youngsters make an appearance.

Wenger likes to use the Carling Cup to test his fringe and youth players and this season should be no different, even if they are under pressure to end their trophy drought.

Fair enough, it isn't the biggest Manchester derby ever but it is certainly one of the most important for years, perhaps even decades. For the first time in a very long time City see themselves as genuine contenders to take the title from United and after a summer of unprecedented spending they should go into this tie full of confidence.

The pick of this weekend's Premier League action is without a doubt Manchester City's home tie with Arsenal. Both teams have something to prove, City may have a 100% start but they're yet to come up against a side who will also be competing for honours and the match against Arsenal represents a great chance for them to establish their own top-four credentials.

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The European under 21 Championship comes to a close tonight with England taking on their old footballing nemisis Germany. Make no mistake, this may be an under 21s tournament but both sets of payers involved will take it just as seriously as they would if it were at senior level.

England go in to the fixture as favourites with the international football betting odds and it is perhaps a fair reflection on how the two teams have performed.

The Confederations Cup is in full swing now in South Africa and after a fairly slow start the tournament has got into full swing. The group stages are now over and the two semi-finals feature USA Vs Spain and Brazil Vs South Africa. It is a bit of a weird tournament in all fairness, to qualify you have to win a FIFA Confederation Championship (such as the Copa America or European Championship) or the World Cup or be the host country of the next World Cup.