Wenger looks for new blood apparently and Bolton boss admits mistake.

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Fulham manager Roy Hodgson maintains there has been no contact from Arsenal over promising defender Chris Smalling and would expect a phone call from Arsene Wenger if there was any interest.

USA - Honduras at 9pm on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura. FA Cup on Setanta: Reading - Burnley at 7:40am amd Everton - Birmingham City at 10am. On FSC: Accrington Stanley - Fulham at 10am, Spurs - Leeds United at noon, and PNE - Chelsea at 5pm. EPL on Setanta: Manchester United - Hull at 3pm. Bundesliga on ESPN Deportes: Bayern Munich - Werder Bremen at 9:30am and Hamburg - Borussia Dortmund at 12:30pm.

By FRANCO PANIZO

It has been hard for Carlos Bocanegra to see the field for Stade Rennes over the past two months, but the U.S. national team captain took another positive step towards reclaiming his left back spot this weekend.

Bocanegra started Rennes' round of 32 Coupe de France game against Saumar, and helped Rennes post a 4-0 victory over the fifth-division club.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

There are plenty of big matches in leagues from Mexico to Germany, but many American soccer fans will be focused on the U.S. team's first match of the new year.

Tonight's USA-Honduras friendly in Carson, California is the marquee match of the day, though there are other high-profile encounters.

The extent of Clint Dempsey's injury over the weekend has yet to be diagnosed, but as David Smith of Yanks Abroad reports, the prognosis could determine the US international's future in South Africa this summer.
Fulham are awaiting evaluation of Clint Dempsey's suspected knee ligament damage and hope to have a prognosis by Tuesday.

Clint Dempsey is not as badly injured as perhaps first feared.

Whilst obviously disappointed, Clint is focused on his rehabilitation and will work hard, in line with medical advice, to return at the soonest opportunity.

Strikes me as a strange thing to say.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Landon Donovan has performed well in his first two matches with Everton, even with the snarling English media watching his every move. But if Donovan really wants to feel pressure, he'll have that chance this weekend as Everton plays in a win-or-you're-out scenario.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

There are plenty of big matches in leagues from Mexico to Germany, but many American soccer fans will be focused on the U.S. team's first match of the new year.

Tonight's USA-Honduras friendly in Carson, California is the marquee match of the day, though there are other high-profile encounters.

The English Football Association Cup of FA Cup resumes with the third round on the upcoming weekend. There are some intriguing match-ups including Manchester United v Leeds United and West Ham United v Arsenal. This is the first round in the FA Cup that includes clubs from the Premier League and Championship.

The draw for the F.A Cup fourth round is as follows:

• Southampton v Ipswich Town
• Reading or Liverpool v Burnley
• Millwall or Derby County v Brentford or Doncaster Rovers
• Bristol City or Cardiff City v Leicester City
• Stoke City v Arsenal
• Notts County or Forest Green Rovers v Wigan
• Scunthorpe United v Manchester City
• West Bromwich Albion v Plymouth or Newcastle
• Everton v Nottingham Forest or Birmingham City
• Accrington Stanley or Gillingham v Fulham
• Bolton v Sheffield United or QPR
• Pompey or Coventry City v Sunderland
• Preston North End v Chelsea
• Aston Villa v Brighton and Hove Albion
• Tranmere Rovers or Wolves v Crystal Palace
• Spurs v Leeds United

Not a bad draw for Newcastle, but it's another unkind away trip that we could have done without.

Here's hoping for Accrington Stanley, eh?

Two nuggets today:

First, from George Clint gets the nod from Gazzetta dello Sport as the best left midfielder in the Premiership! High praise indeed. (original link here)

IL TOP 11 — Ruolo per ruolo, scegliamo i migliori giocatori, aggiungendo 7 ipotetiche riserve.

Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman has extended the loan of Liverpool's highly-rated goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis until January 30.
The Australian born stopper joined the League Two side in November as an emergency signing following a knee injury to regular number one Ian Dunbavin.
Bouzanis has appeared in five games for the Reds and is sure to be handed a starting berth by Coleman when he takes his side to Lincoln on Saturday.

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QPR Official Site - EXCLUSIVE: KEEPER ARRIVES
Paul Hart has swooped to bring Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme to Loftus Road.
The 23 year-old stopper, who has already spent time on loan at Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United this season, has penned a loan deal until Sunday 31st January 2010.

The cold air that is whistling through football isn't solely as a result of the recent wintry weather. HMRC are on the move, and their aim is to recoup taxpayers' money from football clubs that haven't been paying their bills. They have been busy since the start of the season, having already extinguished Kings Lynn, agreeing a last minute payment plan with Rochdale and forcing a change of ownership at Accrington Stanley, where over £300,000 had to be found new owner Ilyas Khan, at the last minute, paid £110,000 and stood as guarantor for the remainder.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Landon Donovan has performed well in his first two matches with Everton, even with the snarling English media watching his every move. But if Donovan really wants to feel pressure, he'll have that chance this weekend as Everton plays in a win-or-you're-out scenario.

A grab bag of Southern California-related soccer news this morning:

*The MLS off-season is over (sort of). The league permits teams to open training camp today.

Galaxy players will report to Home Depot Center Monday for physicals and fitness work in the gym, but won't hit the practice field until Feb.

With one notable exception, it's an FA Cup weekend in England, meaning many matches will feature EPL teams against lower division clubs. It usually results in some exciting matchups, as teams aren't so familar with one another, and you can usually count on at least one upset. So get settled on Saturday and see what the underdogs might have in store for the day!

I'm getting sick of people who say that the FA Cup is dead or dying. All you had to do was watch the Tottenham Hotspur against Leeds United match on Saturday and you would have walked away convinced that the tournament is very much alive and kicking.

In a tremendously exciting game, Leeds United held their own against an almost full-strength Tottenham side.

Dean Bouzanis plays the last game of his current loan spell at Accrington Stanley tomorrow, but the goalkeeper says he is keen to stay for the rest of the season as he bids to earn a new deal at Liverpool.
Bouzanis joined Stanley from Liverpool in late November but the 19-year-old's loan is currently due to expire this weekend.