Manchester United's fixtures are approaching a golden period of unprecidented easiness. Over the next 9 weeks, the toughest fixture may well be Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
West Ham v Man Utd
Man Utd v Aston Villa
Man Utd v Wolverhampton
Fulham v Man Utd
Hull v Man Utd
Man Utd v Wigan
Birmingham v Man Utd
Man Utd v Burnley
Man Utd v Hull
A fixture list like this makes Manchester United players definately worth having.

Both Stoke and Fulham have a double header on Gameweek 20, after missing out on Gameweek 17. Arsenal and Bolton are the other teams that gameweek who benefit from the revised fixture list.
The tricky part for a lot of players is that by now many have shaped their teams into something close to what they would like, making the dilemma not so much about who they should transfer in, rather who they will transfer out.

Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou leave for the the African Cup of Nations next week to fool around and twist their backs with the Ivory Coast in a minor league regional tournament that makes absolutely no sense just six months before The World Cup in South Africa.
So it looks like Nicolas Anelka, last year's golden boot winner, is set for a nice run out as the main man in the Chelsea attack.

This is how lucky the United States got Friday.

After the U.S. was drawn in Group C with England, if I could have handpicked a country from Pot 3 and Pot 4 I would have selected Algeria and Slovenia (if you don't believe me, I worte it yesterday). For the U.S. to actually draw both those teams there was a 1/64 (1.

Redknapp targets impressive trio

Get Tottenham Tickets at Fantastic Prices Now!

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

Tottenham target Matthew Upson from West Ham
Tottenham could make a move for West Ham's England defender Matthew Upson in the January transfer window.

It has developed into some kind of a tradition that every year, when the African Cup of Nations takes place in January, Chelsea come out moaning about the effect it will have on their team with a number of players leaving their club duty to represent their countries in it's continent's most important competition.

Chelsea had already won their CL group, so this result one of the most memorable in Apoel's history was hardly a big surprise, especially given that Carlo 'Benny' Ancelotti picked a slightly weakened team (no Cech, Lampard or Anelka in the starting line-up). Open, entertaining match, though.

Just a quick news round-up before my formal preview of the Burnley match coming later this afternoon. First, the bad news is that Denilson is out of the Burnley match with a back injury. You'll recall that he just returned from being out for 10 weeks with a back injury. Hopefully this isn't a serious recurrence Wenger seems not to think so, indicating that he'll probably be back for Hull on Saturday.

Some recommended links for ya:

A Premier League African Cup of Nations XI The Spoiler

Sergio Ramos, the Prince of Cheese, poses for a calendar Kickette

Crowd trouble blighting Serbian football When Saturday Comes

Liverpool's £26m seven-man clearout and four excellent ways to spend the cash Caught Offside

Sinister Swedish Frank Lampard Danger Here

Everton are the undisputed Champions of Britain Mirror

Man United weighing up Huntelaar deal FourFourTwo

Women's rights group dresses up as prostitutes to compain about, er, prostitution at Euro 2012 Dirty Tackle

Match-fixing shenanigans involving Macedonia and Canada The Offside

Ashley Young is not good enough for England.

As the Premier League reaches the half-way point in its season, Mark Siglioccolo takes a look into his crystal ball and wonders whether the days of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea might be coming to an end.

Sixteen games into the season and it is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested championships in recent history.

Despite being constantly linked with all kinds of strikers, Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea will definately not be signing a striker in the January Transfer window. And to prove he's not lying, he's promised he'll run naked in the Stamford Bridge snow if he goes back on his word. "There's no way I [...]

According to Chris Flanagan at the Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn have approached Chelsea about extending the loan deal of striker Franco di Santo. However Chelsea might decide to bring him back when his current loan deal ends as they will lose Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou to the African Cup of Nations.

Liverpool is among a number of clubs tracking Angers SCO's Bruno Ecuele Manga, according to the defender's agent.
The Gabonese is currently playing in the French second division, but Reds boss Rafa Benitez is said to have sent scouts to check on his progress.
Paris St Germain has also been linked with the 21-year-old, while Arsenal were credited with an interest at the beginning of 2009.

Group A contains host nation South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay and France. South Africa is a very weak #1 seed at at the moment, France and Mexico must be favored to move on.

A look at the teams in Group A

SOUTH AFRICA

Manager: Carlos Alberto Parreira
Key player: Kagisho Dikgacoi
Best: Round one (1998, 2002)
World ranking: 86

Qualifying as hosts has its obvious advantages giving straight passage without having to kick a ball in anger.

The dust has finally settled on FIFA's World Cup 2010 draw and we now know which teams will play in which groups during the First Round of next year's competition. And it was quite some draw – all of the groups had an interesting angle or a talking point to ignite the excitement and anticipation.
Let's explore that fevered expectancy now as we take a whistle-stop review of the eight groups that will demand our undivided attention in 2010.

After thrashing West Ham 4-0 away from home, with two central midfielders making up half of our defence, alongside our second/third choice goalkeeper, we were put within two points of league leaders Chelsea.

After the ball bounced of Emmanuel Adebayor's back and in to the goal to put Chelsea ahead, I assumed it was going to be another one of those days where Chelsea were concerned.

Do you dream of seeing your African squad? INTERSPORT, the world's leading Sports Retailer, is bringing your Black Stars, Les Elephants and Indomitable Lions to the "City of Lights."
INTERSPORT announced a new partnership agreement to cooperate with three major PUMA African Football Federations: Ghana, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.

Bad news for Chelsea as Michael Essien has been ruled out for three to four weeks because of a hamstring injury which means he will not play again this year.

Considering that Essien is due to play for Ghana in the African Cup of Nations, due to start on January 10 in Angola, Chelsea fans might not see him play again until February.

So it seems that even the Guardian, amid stories of Rafa's fear of a hangover, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes "watching" a Champions League match in Seville, and that Chelsea are facing an extended absence of Micheal Essien (thus compounding their player drain due to the African Cup of Nations; Essien will be playing for Ghana), has to report that the New York Red Bulls have a fancy new stadium in the works.

The 2010 African Cup of Nations begins on 10 January in Angola, with the hosts kicking off the tournament against Mali.

That will be the first of 32 matches that will be played in Angola over a three-week period, culminating in the final in the capital city of Luanda on 31 January.

The complete list of 2010 African Cup of Nations fixtures is listed below, and when the competition starts, you can check back here for results and reports.

Much has been written about January's African Cup of Nations' effect on the title race in the Premier League. Quite a few of the teams vying for the title will lose key players during the month long tournament. Chelsea stand to suffer the most, losing Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and Solomon Kalou.

The unexpected news that Arsene Wenger has declared he will try to sign a striker in January must have floored most Arsenal fans. The Frenchman doesn't usually make any claims let alone buys in the transfer window.

Even if Robin Van Persie wasn't out for the season, I still really felt Arsenal had to buy.

From January 10th to the 31st Africa's football loving fans will shift their focus form the European leagues that they ardently follow to catch up with their own stars live in action in the African Cup of Nations. The tournament which will take place in Angola just 6 months shy of the world cup finals in South Africa will be a huge indicator of how the African nations will perform when the kick-off whistle is blown on June the 11th.

They Think It's All Over... believes that Chelsea could be well advised to dip into the transfer market in January.

Who's playing in the African Cup of Nations this January from the English Premier League? Here's the full list of Premier League players headed to Angola 2010:

Team by team list:

Arsenal: Alex Song, Emmanuel Eboue
Aston Villa: Moustapha Salifou
Birmingham City: None
Blackburn Rovers: None
Bolton Wanderers: Danny Shittu
Burnley: Andre Bikey
Chelsea: Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel
Everton: Joseph Yobo, Ayegbeni Yakubu
Fulham: John Pantsil, Dickson Etuhu
Hull City: Kamel Ghilas, Daniel Cousin, Seyi Olofinjana
Liverpool: None
Manchester City: Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kelvin Etuhu
Manchester United: None
Portsmouth: Kevin-Prince Boateng, Nadir Belhadj, Hassan Yebda, John Utaka, Nwankwo Kanu, Aruna Dindane
Stoke City: Mamady Sidibe
Sunderland: John Mensah
Tottenham: Sebastien Bassong, Benoit Assou-Ekotto
West Ham: None
Wigan: Richard Kingson
Wolves: George Elokobi

By numbers:

Six: Portsmouth
Four: Chelsea
Three: Man City, Hull City
Two: Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton, Fulham
One: Aston Villa, Sunderland, Stoke, Bolton, Burnley, Wigan, Wolves
None: Man Utd, Liverpool, West Ham, Birmingham, Blackburn

"Premier League stars going to Angola 2010" was originally published at Soccerlens.

Though there are a number of European managers who would much rather not be reminded, the 2010 African Cup of Nations is a little more than a month away.

Egypt followed up winning in 2006 as hosts by defeating Cameroon to win the final in Ghana in 2008, and they'll be looking to make history this time around in Angola and be the first country to win three titles in a row.

Chelsea have gotten some bad news from their star striker Didier Drogba, who has hurt his back in training. Carlo Ancelotti was cautious about Drogba's condition and wouldn't make a decision about his place in the side that will face Portsmouth tomorrow, saying "He took a knock on the back and I don't know if he will be able to play tomorrow.

Signing African players has always represented something of a gamble for Premier League bosses.

As well as the player's pedigree and their ability to adapt to new surroundings, the manager must also consider whether losing them to the African Cup of Nations for up to six weeks will unbalance his team's equilibrium.

The original stand at Goldsdown Road, home of Brimsdown Rovers and Enfield Town football clubs. July 14th, 2006.

Photo credit: jancyclops on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily | October 1 | Tartan Army in Lithuania Photo credit: csteinle on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Rumour No.1: According to the Telegraph, Chelsea have added Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko to their January shopping list. Dzeko, who is 6ft 3in and built like the proverbial shithouse, is one of the most powerful young forwards in Europe, which probably explains why he has also been linked with Man Utd and AC Milan.

Just three points separate Manchester United and Chelsea, with the blues yet to visit Old Trafford and arguably their two most important players about to leave for the African Cup of Nations.

Sir Alex Ferguson has looked at all the rivals to our title this week, whilst John Terry and Frank Lampard have talked up their chances.

Barcelonas xmas came early when news filtered through that their bid for Manchester Citys forward Robinho had been rejected. The euforia surrounding Barcas sextruplet must have gone to Laportas head as he made Man City an offer for their record signing.

OK Barcelona, so six trophies in one calendar year isn't enough for you?? Wow, talk about what have you done for me lately! You guys got nothin' on Janet Jackson. Hopefully Pep Guardiola gets his money, either at Barca or somewhere else because that guy, granted has the talent, but it does take someone at the top to mix and match the players and put the right 11 out there.

I'm sure we're all well aware of the story of Frosty the Snowman. In case you aren't, let's refresh your memory.

Originally a song, Frosty is about some kids making a regular snowman; the three massive snowballs, the carrot nose, the coal eyes, the scarf, the tophat, the whole nine yards.

News that will certainly intensify speculation that defensive reinforcements will be top of the January wanted list:

The defender strained a calf muscle during Saturday's win over Sunderland and now faces a recovery period of three to four weeks. This news comes the day after Joleon Lescott had his knee operation to remove some floating bone, but the summer purchase from Everton is also out until into the New Year.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp insists that defender Gareth Bale will get a run out on the pitch when Benoit Assou-Ekotto departs for the African Cup of Nations next month.

The Wales international has only been a peripheral part of Spurs' plans this season, making just a handful of appearances.

Tottenham meet Fulham on Boxing Day for the third consecutive season, but on this occasion we travel to Craven Cottage. As Premier League tests go it is a stern one, with the Cottagers riding high after thrashing Manchester United.
We have won only one of our eight league trips to Fulham since they returned to the top flight in 2001/02, drawing three times and losing on four occasions.

According to Sky Sports News, Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini admitted that he is unsure whether the club will be busy next month. Mancini said,

"I want to have a look at all the players before I make up my mind what we might need or not need in terms of players .

This "week" just keeps getting stranger and stranger. It began, of course, with Wigan/Bolton postponed and since then we've gone through the "Nasri or won't he" drama. But the news just hasn't stopped. So we've got updates from Chelsea, Manchester United, Spurs, the African Cup of Nations and more.

Rafa Benitez will make an instant splash in the transfer window, with Premier League strikers Emile Heskey, Kenwyne Jones and Roque Santa Cruz topping his wish list.
The Liverpool boss has been given the go-ahead to bring in two new players as soon as the window opens on January 1, and his main priority is a forward to take the pressure off Fernando Torres.