1. Arsenal are the only club to have made a bid for Fiorentina star Felipe Melo, the Italian club have announced. The Viola appear prepared to sell the Brazilian star with Emmanuel Eboue moving the other way as part of the deal. (Various)
2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar continues to be linked with a move to AC Milan, as his future at Real Madrid looks looks increasingly bleak (Goal.

Middlesbrough 0-2 Man Utd

Manchester United had the look of Premier League champions today as they eased to a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside.

PFA player of the year Ryan Giggs scored his second league goal this year with a low drive and then Park Ji-Sung capped off some fine United movement for the second.

By 1970's GoonerAlmuniaIt feels nice to type out Emmanuel Almunia's name when giving the ratings for an Arsenal performance. He was called to the rescue twice and he was equal to it. The first from a long range shot from Downing which he saved at the second attempt and the second from old boy Aliadiere who found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Boro's French forward would like his manager to make his mind up about where he wants him to play. Middlesbrough forward Jeremie Aliadiere does not mind being asked to play on the right-wing, he insists, rather than his preferered striking position, but he does object to manager Gareth Southgate switiching him between the two roles on [.

So the transfer window firmly closed and fans were left scratching their heads at the complete lack of activity from Middlesbrough. All day long rumours of different players being spotted in and around Rockliffe were floating around the internet, 99% of which were complete fabrications, but at the end of the day the only player who we ever looked likely to sign was Rob Hulse.

Adebayor on the bench, Eduardo not even there. Song and Djourou wisely rested as well as this is the Arsenal line-up for this afternoon's match against Middlesbrough. My ₤ on the Gunners are of course placed, time to win then.
Arsenal

Almunia, Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs, Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was delighted to his side perform well in their 2-0 win over Middlesbrough. He said:

It was an entertaining game and after 2-0 you could see that Maybe the Champions League started to surface a little bit. Overall it was a very good game against a Middlesbrough team who played in a very positive way.

The Carling Cup draw has been made, and we'll be facing Liverpool for the first time since the unlikely pairing of Aliadiere and Baptista led us to a remarkable 6-3 triumph at Anfield in January 2007.

Some may be disappointed that the kids have to face such a big side so early in the competition, but I'm not.

Middlesbrough edged closer to the relegation trap door yesterday with another lacklustre, inept performance as they went down 4-1 at the Reebok Stadium.

Some shocking defending has left Boro all but down now as they languish 5 points adrift at the bottom of the league. It is now looking like Boro and West Brom are certainties for relegation as the the season winds down to a disappointing finale.

Lots to get through today, so let's get straight on with it. First off, we have team news for tomorrow's early afternoon match with Boro, and it's positive - any of Almunia, Adebayor or Djourou could make their returns. With Van Persie out, and Eduardo short of match fitness, the return of the big man up front is important, but perhaps not as crucial as the two at the back.

Lineups are in:

Middlesbrough:

Jones

McMahon-Wheater-Huth-Taylor

O'Neil-Bates-Tuncay-Downing

Aliadiere-King

Bench: Turnbull, Hoyte, Digard, Emnes, Alves, Johnson, Grounds

As for us, it's close to what I predicted yesterday, with Almunia coming into the squad and Eboue spelling Sagna:

Almunia

Eboue-Toure-Silvestre-Gibbs

Walcott-Fabregas-Denilson-Nasri

Bendtner-Arshavin

Bench: Fabianski, Diaby, Sagna, Vela, Song, Djourou, Adebayor

Good news about Almunia, as this will give him a chance to get game sharp again before Wednesday's game.

There's nowhere else to start today but with Bouldy's Boys and the fact that Arsenal won the FA Youth Cup last night at Anfield.

Twenty years to the day of the famous league victory the youngsters, none of whom had been born at that stage, took to the field in the commemorative shirts and won the game 2-1.

As Arsenal fans we like to think of ourselves as proud of the way young players are developed by the club, patient with them as they progress through their inevitable raw phase, and then justified when they come out the other side shining.

Some make it all the way, some fall by the wayside, and we've become accustomed to seeing both sides of that particular coin.