The Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw was released on Friday at the Talatona Convention Centre in Luanda with the hosts Angola being drawn in a somewhat easy Group A alongside Algeria, Mali and Malawi. This tournament will be a must win for the 'Palancas Negras' after they failed to reach the Finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

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(video gol highlights di Manchester United-Everton)
I risultati della Premier League:
CHELSEA-WOLVERHAMPTON 4-0 (Malouda, 2 Essien, Joe Cole)
MANCHESTER UNITED - EVERTON (Fletcher, Carrick e Valencia)
SUNDERLAND-ARSENAL 1-0 (Bent)
LIVERPOOL-MANCHESTER CITY 2-2 (Skrtel (L), Adebayor, Ireland (MC), Benayoun)
BIRMINGHAM-FULHAM 1-0 (Bowyer)
BURNLEY-ASTON VILLA 1-1 (Caldwell (B), Heskey)
HULL CITY-WEST HAM 3-3 (Franco, Collison (WH), aut. Click to continue reading...

The handshake between Rafa Benitez and Mark Hughes at the end of today's 2-2 draw spoke volumes.
Although a pulsating second half had rescued what looked to be a turgid scoreless draw provided plenty of the attacking threat both sides possess, their frustrated expressions bore the knowledge of all too familiar frailties and failings that continue to cost their respctive sides. Click to continue reading...

In the preview of tomorrow's game I touched on news of a possible return to the line-up for Robinho, and the Mark Hughes has spoken of this possibility:

"He is back training with the group, which is pleasing from everyone's point of view," said Hughes. He is travelling with us and we will make a decision [on his fitness] tomorrow.

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Above average finishing ability, Average rat-tail, Below average fitness history
The Premier League is back, and while the World Cup is still top of mind (especially for those Irish and French fans), the greatest league in the world is back from a two week hiatus. Let's get to it:
I. Click to continue reading...

A few years ago a film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar called The Grudge came out. I won't lie, that film scared the shit outta me. There's a part when this little Japanese woman/ghost crawls out from under the duvet and it petrified me. I couldn't sleep for days.
Why are you mentioning The Grudge I hear you ask? Click to continue reading...

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie is likely to miss his rematch with Manchester City centre-forward Emmanuel Adebayor.
Van Persie's injury threatens to stop him lining up against former team-mate Adebayor in next month's Carling Cup quarter-final at Manchester City.
Van Persie was keen to play after a stormy Barclays Premier League clash in September in which Adebayor stamped on his face and provoked travelling fans after scoring in a 4-2 win for his side. Click to continue reading...

The carpet bagger wants to leave but an angel waits in the wings.

Something about Brazilian music not being good enough for the neighbours.

Mark Hughes seems to be doing a good job of getting rid of all the Brazilians in the team. Elano, Jo, and now Robinho. We can also look forward to the African clique, Adebayor and Kolo Toure, being broken up.

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When Robin Van Persie scored Arsenal's third in the North London derby against Spurs, it prompted me to draw comparisons with the Real Madrid legend Raul. He has scored seven goals in the league and been given the role of the top of the Gunners attack. He has previously been compared to Dennis Bergkamp who was a genius at linking up attacks with the rest of his teammates.

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Stephen Ireland has spoken about the recent incident where he was taken to hospital following the Fulham win:

"Thankfully it wasn't too serious because at the time I thought that was the end of me but I don't even know what it was. I've had every test that there is and still don't know what it was.

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There has been a steady stream of rumors about Maicon potentially leaving Inter since last summer, though nothing has come of them and it seems nothing will. Says Maicon's agent, Antonio Caliendo:

"Every day there's a story linking Maicon to a different club. First it was Real Madrid, then Manchester United and now City.

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Before this season began, many were criticizing Arsene Wenger's decision to sell Adebayor and wondered where goals would come from for the North London team. I responded in an article:
"It is Arsenal whom I think will be this season's top scorers. Arsenal's attacking midfield and attack is tough to criticize. Click to continue reading...

Adebayor has once again broken his silence about his true feelings for Arsenal, the fans and former team mates. Much has been thrown his way since interests from other clubs began surfacing after the 07/08 season when he scored a remarkable 30 goals for the Arsenal. But, does he really deserve the stick he's gotten [. Click to continue reading...

Alright all,

I'm still half dying from Swine Flu here, its horrible I tell you, absolutely bloody horrible. Anyway, it didnt stop me from watching the lads the other night and what a great game it was, I really enjoyed it. It was entertaining and you got that feeling that anything could happen at any time.

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It was another incredible weekend of English Premier League football. One single match was all it took to lift the doom and gloom at Anfield. A stunning 2-0 win over arch-rivals Manchester United was just the tonic that Rafa's men needed. An excellent all-round Liverpool performance got even better when David Ngog glossed the scoreline with a goal that put the issue beyond doubt. Click to continue reading...

Andy Brassell, or ‘the Top Brass' to regular World Football Phone In listeners, is a freelance football journalist, with a knowledge of European football that matches Tim ‘Vickapedia' Vickery's knowledge of all things South American.

Not only is he an expert on France, Portugal, Germany, England and Spain, but he also knows his stuff on the Russian league.

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Recently Arsenal FC Blog sat down with Arsenal captain and future Barcelona star (let's admit it, it's easier that way) Cesc Fabregas to talk about the pressure of playing several years without any trophies, Manchester City and on Arsenal chances in the Premier League and Europe this season.

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The most glaring difference between this and the last AGM is not the shareholders' attitude. It is Arsene. His demeanor was completely different this time around, and with good reason. Though that reason may not be down to results entirely.

Of course, we still get Arsene's standard lines about "belief," the "real spirit in the team," etc.

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Lately he's been a man on a mission, and the Republic of Ireland international is hoping to continue his current form. That's right, I'm talking about Aston Villa center back Richard Dunne. The man is doing it all for Aston Villa right now, and it is paying major dividends for his club.

Let's rewind back two weeks you know, before that extremely boring international weekend?

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Russian star highlights a potentially big problem.

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Arsenal midfielder Andriy Arshavin says he expects a large number of Premier League stars to abandon England in the near future, as the tax band is almost twice as big as in Spain.

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Time to be brutally honest.

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Last night David Ngog was picked to start up front against Lyon in a crucial, let me repeat crucial, Champions League tie. One we could ill afford to lose, hell a draw would have been something, but to lose puts us in a whole heap of trouble.

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We have seen Tottenham challenge the top 4 place few years back, then Villa doing the same last season, nut never have we seen so many sides capable of upsetting the title contenders as this season. Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa all look capable of upsetting the odds, especially since Liverpool look to be all over the place at the moment.

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I can see us beating them 0-2 tomorrow, plain and simple.
Let's face it, with the mess that they were (still are) in, Paul Hart had no choice but to bring in Championship players. Championship players normally end up in the Championship.
O'Hara, who's been solid for them this season, won't be in the side, whilst King (who Patrick Barclay of the Times called the best centre-half in Britain) should be back. Click to continue reading...

Replace Seedorf with Van Persie's face and Adebayor definitely connects
Alright, this is somewhat of a weak Funny Feeling Friday - because this player is a proven fantasy commodity - but just hear me out on this one.
Adebayor is only owned by 6% of fantasy managers. Six percent. Click to continue reading...

In what's becoming a common quarterly occurrence for Steven Gerrard, just as earnings season comes once every three months on Wall Street, Liverpool's Captain aggravates a minor groin injury about 4 times per year as well.
Gerrard has done it again. England's finest midfielder is a major doubt for the team's trip to Sunderland this weekend after aggravating his groin problem - again. Click to continue reading...

Player's agent tries hard to convince Wenger to sign his client.

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is keeping an eye on Bayer Levekusen striker Stefan Kiessling and is keen to sign the hitman in January.
The German striker has grabbed six goals in eight matches in the current campaign and is current on course for the Golden Boot award in the Bundesliga scoring charts.

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Its a list, and a damned long one, but well worth taking a look at! We love Four Four Two, almost as much as we love Fennec Fox's.

Our friends over at Four Four Two have compiled their annual list of the top 100 players in the world today, take a look below and let us know what you think?

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Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become the latest Barcelona star to egotistically pronounce the treble winning club's's dominance over their global rivals. Following Sweden's bitter loss to Denmark this weekend, where the spotlight was stolen away from him thanks to Nicklas Bendtner's scintillating performance for the Danes, Ibrahimovic has taken his frustrations out on former club Inter Milan.

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This is it. The entire world wraps up the group rounds of world cup qualifying. After Wednesday, there will only be 5 slots (4 in UEFA and the CONCACAF-CONMEBOL play off) left to fill. Who will handle the pressure? Who won't? Who will be the shock entrants, and who will shockingly miss out? Click to continue reading...

Well, the international matches are almost upon us. The official site has a full round-up of all Gunners who will be participating in internationals this weekend here. No fewer than 20 Arsenal players are listed on international rosters for tomorrow's matches.

There's no point in covering every match, but some of the highlights:

Clichy, Diaby, Gallas, and Sagna look to get France into at least a playoff match for the World Cup in what should be a romp against Faroe Islands and a mid-week home match against Austria.

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Sigh. International breaks are so boring. Not too much going on in the lead up to the games over the weekend, but a few things have popped up so I thought I'd do a roundup/link dump of what's been going on this week.

First, Adebayor said he "regrets" stomping on former teammate Robin van Persie's face last month.

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I have found that listening to most podcasts is not good for my health, especially my blood pressure. With very few exceptions, most notably the Guardian's fantastic Football Weekly, the drivel spewed forth in these little mp3s is enough to make one scratch their eyes out. None more so at times than the BBC's 606.

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All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

More footballers reviewing music. This time: Millwall on a song called "Oopsy Daisy". [Channelbee]

Will you be dumb enough to pay to watch England v Ukraine on the internet?

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With the final set of World Cup 2010 qualifying fixtures coming up for many teams, David Scullion takes a closer look at which teams are on the brink of qualification.

AFRICA

As we all know South Africa have qualified as next years hosts.

Also in Africa, Ghana have qualified for their second consecutive finals appearance, gazumping all the teams in their group with 2 games to spare.

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Aston Villa has been a Jekyll and Hyde team so far this season. While they have yet to surpass the impressive performances they showcased for portions of last season, they showed glimmers of hope Monday night with an admirable defensive display against a very talented Manchester City team.

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