They may have fallen to Arsenal in the League Cup on Wednesday, but Liverpool will nonetheless be in determined mood as they return to the capital this weekend to take on Fulham.
Last Sunday's 2-0 victory over Manchester United ended a four-game losing streak, bringing a wave of relief over the red half of Merseyside and boosting the Anfield giants to within six points of leaders Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Fulham striker Andy Johnson is just days away from making a return to action following his injury that has kept him out of action since October 4th. Johnson is facing a race to be fit for Fulham's crucial Europa League match against Roma on Thursday, as the former Crystal Palace man hopes to join Bobby Zamora up top for the Cottagers.

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Darren Bent's matchwinning goal for Sunderland this weekend was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that it hit a beach ball on the way in. But the fact is that beach ball deflection or not Darren Bent scored again. Against good opposition. Bent isn't just the highest scoring English player in the Premier League right now with eight goals, he's also the joint highest scoring player in the Premier League alongside Fernando Torres.

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1. Same Old H List, Always Absent...
As HeadHammer Shark stagnates in his recliner, responding to his good lady wife's pleas for a little help with the kids with a ‘whatever'-style gesture, never once taking his eyes from Wrestlemania on the Plasma, it has been left to me to post our bi-monthly article. Click to continue reading...

That headline is somewhat contrived. But it does underscore an important point: a year ago, Arsenal wouldn't have won 1-0 yesterday. Mr. Wenger often says the team is growing but year-on-year between 07-08 and 08-09 it seemed to have gone backwards not forwards. We were toothless in midfield and conceding stupid goals. Click to continue reading...

A wonderful performance gives Wenger a 'good' selection headache.

Arsenal's rookie goalkeeper Vito Mannone earned a '10 out of 10′ rating from his manager Arsene Wenger for his performance in the 1-0 win at Fulham.

With Manuel Almunia sidelined by a virus, and Lukasz Fabianski out with a knee injury, third-choice keeper Mannone started his second successive Premier League game on Saturday.

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When Arsenal won against Standard Liege, having come from 2 goals down, the performance was poor but I thought the way we won the match was important. We played poorly and managed to produce a comeback from a couple of goals down. Every team needs games like that to give them the belief they can salvage something when things are going wrong.

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by CARL ELDRIDGE The majority of press coverage of the Arsenal this morning is obviously taken up by the 1-0 win at Fulham at Craven Cottage yesterday as you can imagine.

And it's young Gunners keeper Vito Mannone who gets rave reviews after an astounding performance kept Roy Hodgson's side at bay.

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Welcome to Ask the Oppo! Perry Groves' Lovechild is still on an extended break so today Eldo71 talks to Martin James, a Fulham season-ticket holder, from Midhurst, West Sussex, who will be at the match today when the Arsenal go to Craven Cottage...

Eldo71: What have you made of the start to the season? Click to continue reading...

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The summer transfer window was a chance DaMarcus Beasley needed for a change of scenery. It was clear that Glasgow was not the place for the winger if he hoped to resurrect both his club and country career. Unfortunately for Beasley, rumors of a switch from Rangers to either Germany or Spain failed to come through today.

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The summer transfer window was a chance DaMarcus Beasley needed for a change of scenery. It was clear that Glasgow was not the place for the winger if he hoped to resurrect both his club and country career. Unfortunately for Beasley, rumors of a switch from Rangers to either Germany or Spain failed to come through today.

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While waiting for the game to start I was having a nose around the Observer's Review section, and more specifically around an interview with art collector Charles Saatchi. He was asked about (artist) Mark Rothko and the nature of infinity, and replied as follows:

"My understanding of infinity goes something like this: every 100 years a sparrow flies to the top of a large mountain, and cleans its beak by scraping it on the highest rock.

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When Fulham arrived in Perm, Russia very early Wednesday morning ahead of the second leg of their Europa League matchup with Amkar Perm (which Fulham leads 3-1), they were welcomed to the city by a rather...grim posse of fans. From the Daily Express:

Dressed in capes and holding scythes, the group of 20 supporters displayed a banner with two sets of five coffins drawn either side of a cross with the word "Johnson" written on it.

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A frustrating afternoon spent chasing shadows.  Chelsea controlled the game from start to finish, and Fulham really didn't threaten Petr Cech's goal.

Part of this was because of the injury to Andy Johnson on Thursday. His absence was felt all over the pitch: we missed his sharp running, constant harrying and intelligent runs.

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Chelsea's first London derby of the new term may not be the most fiercest, or the most glamorous. It does, however, represent a strong test and a reunion of sorts for two of the game's most astute managers.

Fulham's Roy Hodgson and CA are well-aquainted. As managers in Serie A, the two clashed thrice; of the three, Carlo won two.

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Winners from London and in the Bundesliga, injuries in the Premier league, women fighting all figure in this week's good, bad and ugly section.

Good

Two from two for Wolfsburg. The German champions continue their good start with a 3-1 away win over Cologne.

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One in, one out.
Not much new news this morning, the latest being the casualties from yesterday's Europa League matches. Those claimed Andy Johnson and will force Jack Rodwell and Steven Pienaar into the dreaded "late fitness test".
Spurs have lost Gomes for a while and so Cudicini will sit behind their make-shift back line. Click to continue reading...

A good win for Fulham last night, against Amkar Perm in the Europe League, was marred by an injury to striker Andy Johnson. The Englishman scored the opening goal in Fulham's 3-1 win, in the fourth minute, but in...

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Your first look at the rumour, innuendo, injuries and team news ahead of tomorrow's pre-match press conferences.
Zola closes on Chamakh

Meanwhile, left-back Herita Ilunga's facial injury means he is rated as doubtful to face Tottenham on Sunday in the Barclays Premier League clash at Upton Park.

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Fulham striker Andy Johnson is set to be sidelined for up to 8 weeks with a suspected dislocated shoulder suffered today in the club's 3-1 Europa League win.
Thousands of fantasy football managers are searching for a cheap replacement for the (also injured) Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, a pre-season favorite and popular selection. Click to continue reading...

In the dark days of 2008-09, sage observers were often heard to mutter "he'll be alright. He just needs one to go in off his arse or something."

They were muttering about Bobby Zamora, of course.  He never did find a way to make that happen, painstakingly compiling 3 goals in 36 games, but this is a new season and everyone gets a clean slate, and today, thrillingly, Bobby Zamora *did* score with his arse.

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The UEFA Europa League finished up its qualifying round on Thursday with the second legs of each tie. Overall there were several matches and over 30 teams advancing to the next round. Here's a recap of some of the matches including Fulham v Vetra, Hamburg v Randers, Roma v KAA Gent, PSV v Cherno and Athletic Bilbao v Young Boys.

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He played for Manchester United. He can't be that bad.
If you read the blog regularly, you know we have a Funny Feeling Friday column during the Premier League season - where I basically try and justify a gut instinct I have about an unpopular, out of form, or underrated player who I believe will step up his game in the near future. Click to continue reading...

With plenty of rumours and names being branded around, we finally seem to be having some definitive action on the transfer front.

Today, Sheffield Utd have announced that they have given defender, Kyle Naughton permission to speak with Everton after an acceptable bid was made.

Secondly, a protracted transfer for Man City's Brazilian forward Jo has also been under negotiation all week.

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Diomansy Kamara, seen here doing his bit to ensure we held Derby County to a 2-2 draw, is missing.

Here is the preview of the Fulham v Australian Teams games.

The relevant bit for us is:

Meanwhile, up-front, Roy will select from the tried and tested trio of Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora and Erik Nevland, with Eddie Johnson providing additional competition after his spell at Cardiff last term.

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Here's a promo shot for Fulham FC's new Nike home kit for the 09/10 season. As you can see (you may have to squint), there are three player's shirts on show in the imaginary Nike dressing room: Andy Johnson, Danny Murphy and the best damned No.23 in the Premier League, aka Deuce Dempsey. Click to continue reading...

Roy Hodgson, surely the Premier League manager of the year?

On 28 December Roy Hodgson accepted the managers post at Premier League side Fulham. The Cottagers' immediate future was looking bleak - in the bottom three, with just 14 points on the table. The revival was hardly immediate either, taking just two points from his first five league games in charge.

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A tip off from Egan: Roy's in Norway. Couple of suggestions there about who he's watching. I'd extract the whole piece but I don't think that's the done thing, so please do head over and have a read. Per Ciljan Skjelbred and Marek Sapara are the names you need to know though, and both sound interesting.

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Our eighth scoreless draw of the season, and our seventh in seventeen away games. As usual, we were solid and well organised, defending what was thrown at us well. Going forward, we passed it well at times but created disappointingly little. Middlesbrough were nervy and possibly there for the taking had we opened up a bit more – instead, we largely played it safe, happy to remain unbeaten and gather another point.

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For the first time in the five years that Rafael Benitez has been in charge, Liverpool went into the weekend before a Champions League quarter final thinking that this, rather than the midweek clash, was the must win game. If anyone still doubts whether progress has been registered this year, then that simple fact underlines just how much Liverpool have moved forward. Click to continue reading...

Why doesn't Roy Hodgson get the credit he deserves in the United Kingdom? As I've mentioned before, In Scandinavia and Italy, he's held in high regard, in  Britain people point to his sacking at Blackburn Rovers back in1997. With 33 points gained so far this season, Fulham are one win away from emulating their points [. Click to continue reading...

One year ago, Fulham was arguably the worst team in the Premier League not named Derby.  The club showed little holiday spirit, sacking Lawrie Sanchez just four days before Christmas.  New manager Roy Hodgson needed a great escape, scraping to 36 points and safety on the season's final day. This season, however, Hodgson has revolutionized Fulham, [. Click to continue reading...

A game we could have won.  For one thing we had several good chances to do so; for another Blackburn were fortunate to have eleven men on the field after several brutal assaults on Fulham players in the first half. Good start: Simon Davies' cross was diverted towards goal by Andy Johnson, only for Paul Robinson [. Click to continue reading...

You never quite know how a returning hero will be greeted in football. I remember when Ian Wright was sold from Palace to Arsenal he got a right earful from the fans. He replied by
scoring the goals that got The Eagles relegated and celebrated as though he'd won the World Cup.
Other players have a much better relationship with supporters of their old clubs. Click to continue reading...

A 2-1 hammering.   Fulham, featuring the speedy Andy Johnson up front for the first time, destroyed Bolton with a complete footballing display. What stood out was the sheer variety of our attacking play.  Aside from the familiar pinball passing, we now saw the team prepared to launch the ball into the channels for Johnson to race [. Click to continue reading...