¡Qué trágico! for poor Diego Buonanotte. If you haven't heard, the influential River Plate midfielder was involved in a fatal car crash which killed three of his friends on Saturday. And according to the Argentinean dailies, Diego, who is in the hospital now frequently wakes up in the middle of the night asking "what happened?

Javier Mascherano has revealed that Liverpool will hold crisis talks as Rafa Benitez attempts to save his job ahead of the crunch clash with arch rivals Manchester United.
The Reds boss is under intense pressure after four straight defeats threaten to extinguish their dream of winning the Champions League and Barclays Premier League.

Former England manager Terry Venables has claimed Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez could lose his job if his side taste defeat to Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday.
Having lost four games in a row, their worst record for 22 years, the Reds are under huge pressure to get a result in Sunday's clash against their arch-rivals in order to get their season back on track.

Liverpool will be looking to kick-start their season when they welcome arch-rivals Manchester United to Anfield on Sunday.
The Reds' 2-1 reverse at home to Lyon in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday was their fourth consecutive loss - their worst run of results for 22 years - and defeat against United would further increase the pressure on manager Rafa Benitez.

Catalan giants eye up White Hart Lane goal machine.

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Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola is reportedly eyeing up a move for Jermain Defoe to bolster his strike force in January.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Life's A Beach for Rafa Benitez with punters responding to Liverpool's worst run of form in 22 years with a wide variety of betting requests speculating on the manager's demise. Responding to the range of requests Paddy Power are offering 10/1 that Liverpool's crunch game against arch rivals Manchester United [.

Phew! Who would want to be in Rafa's shoes right now.Four straight defeats in all competitions, the first time since 1987, an injury list as long as your arm and a tough game against Man Utd this weekend.Not the ideal scenario, in fact, things couldn't be any worse at Liverpool right now.Torres, Gerrard, Johnson, Riera and Kelly are all injured leaving us in a position where Rafa will struggle to get a fit team out on Sunday to face our arch rivals.

Steven Gerrard has emerged as Real Madrid's top target for next summer.
SunSport can reveal Real president Florentino Perez will launch an audacious £30million bid for the Liverpool skipper.
A top Madrid source said: "It's no secret Gerrard is a player Perez and technical director Jorge Valdano admire.

FC Barcelona thumped Zaragoza 6-1 to retain their spot at the top of the Spanish La Liga on Sunday. They are now three points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid after eight games played. Barca's big win came via an unexpected Seydou Keita hat trick and two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. FC Barcelona now has 22 points.

Tottenham visit Arsenal in their worst season under Wenger - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur play at the Emirates this Sunday, with the roles of both teams reversed in the league.

This season is on course to be Arsenal's worst under Arsène Wenger. We also look at at Emmanuel Adebayor's records at both clubs and compares Scott Parker and Alex Song.

There's an unstoppable groin-pocalypse going on at Lyon right now and no one is immune to its devastation. From Reuters:

Olympique Lyon have been hit by a series of groin injuries with keeper Hugo Lloris, defenders Jean-Alain Boumsong, Aly Cissokho, Mathieu Bodmer, Cleber Anderson, Cris, midfielders Cesar Delgado, Jeremy Toulalan, Kim Kallstrom and striker Lisandro Lopez all suffering from the same problem before their trip to arch-rivals St Etienne on Saturday.

Time to kiss and make up!

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur are 12 years behind the Gunners.
Despite making a strong start to the season, with Spurs winning their opening four league games, defeats to Manchester United (3-1), Chelsea (3-0) and Arsenal (3-0) have highlighted that the White Hart Lane side still have their work cut if they are to establish themselves at the top end of the Premier League table.

The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.

Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.

When will this end!

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Former Manchester United defender Gerard Pique believes Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will eventually return to European champions Barcelona and not join arch-rivals Real Madrid.

The weird and wonderful world of White Hart Lane rumour spotting!

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Roman Pavlyuchenko's agent Oleg Artemov has claimed that Arsenal are among the clubs chasing the striker.

Now this is one of those footballing moments you just wish were more commonplace but are clearly an oasis of rarity in a sea of poor sportsmanship. Auxerre striker Valter Birsa was felled by Marseille man Bakari Kone, an offence the referee decided was worthy of a red card only to be told by the victim of the accidental challenge that he had indeed got the decision wrong.

What is there to say? Destiny in their hands, playoff berth on the line, players playing against their old clubs on both sides, arch rivals, Rocky Mountain Cup. What more do you need? The only thing I am certain of is that CBS4 Denver will not be bothering to cover any of this game but will instead be focusing on Brandon Marshall's inane comments in a bye week.

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.

Goal video highlights from the Cultural Leonesa vs Barcelona Copa Del Rey game on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Game kicks off at 21.00 UK time. The Catalan giants will be looking to avoid the fate that befell arch rivals Real Madrid, who slumped to a 4-0 defeat against Alcorcon yesterday. Related posts:Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona goals [.

Do you change teams when the results go bad ? Poor old baldy, the tribulations of supporting Newcastle United. Nick was the talismanic epicenter of the LA Vale team that was unbelievably successful in 2007 - arguably the most successful football team in Los Angeles ever.
2009 and Nick is the talismanic epicenter of the FK Dinamo team, top scorer, captain, pre-match motivator and all round great bloke, basque anarchist, intellectual, debater, supporter, friend.

Is it such a shock that Southend United are facing the prospect of administration?
On the face of it, most definitely. But delve a little deeper and perhaps the answer will change.
For the first time in a long time, the Blues appeared to be moving in the right direction. Buoyed by a committed management team, the Shrimpers enjoyed their most successful period between 2003 and 2008, with meagre resources.

It was a Super Saturday treat for Premier League fans as all the top names in the game came out to the fields. Chelsea went to Bolton and won 5-0 in an emphatic show of their reign at the top. Lampard got the proceedings going through a freekick in the fag end of the first [...]

Jamie Carragher admits he is 'hurt' by Liverpool's current plight, but has called on his team-mates not to be too downhearted.
Club stalwart Carragher was sent off on Saturday as a 3-1 defeat at Fulham condemned the Reds to a sixth loss in seven games in all competitions.
The setback at Craven Cottage has left Liverpool nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea and unlikely to mount a serious title challenge.

For all of England's confidence, bravado and gusto in the qualifiers for the World Cup 2010, this evening promises to be a very tense time for English football.

Although England have been seeded with the "elite" teams of the world, today's drawing for the group stages for the World Cup still represents a nervous crossroads scenario for England players and their fans who have done so well to get this far.

Fanatical Reds supporter Sean Wright was delighted when he received a Liverpool FC selection box for Christmas.
But the 12-year-old's excitement turned to dismay when he opened it to find a bag of sweets branded with the name of arch-rivals Manchester United.
Dad-of-three Chris Wright, of Bootle, ordered a selection box for each of his sons from the LFC online store.

Scousers Scuppered! – The Chelsea Football FanCast 90 The boys are in buoyant mood after Chelsea's victory against the red menace. All the key moments from a hard fought win are discussed by Chidge, Mart, Chel Tel, the Blues Brothers and special guest from the USA, Michael Roban. Ashley Cole and Michael Essien take the plaudits in a typically attritional victory against arch rivals Liverpool,

Crunch time at Anfield looms.

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Liverpool's dire injury situation looks to be easing, with Fernando Torres (thigh) hopeful of returning.
Glen Johnson (groin) is also close to a comeback, but Steven Gerrard is struggling with a similar problem.

France doesn't have a lot of local rivalries like England for example, since Lyon-Saint Etienne and Lille-Lens do not really portray all the elements of the derby. However, this country has a derby between Olympique Marseille and Paris Saint Germain, a fierce rivalry that doesn't go such a long way.

The most highly-anticipated match of the English Premier League season is upon us, and so are some truly can't-miss MLS playoff series deciders.

Chelsea plays host to Manchester United on Sunday with a chance to open up a five-point lead atop the EPL standings, while six MLS teams head into action knowing that defending MLS champions Columbus has been eliminated from the post-season.

We move along in our series with the Rapids, who wildly disappointed fans by slumping down the stretch to miss out on the playoffs thanks to a closing day loss to arch rivals Real Salt Lake - who have added insult to injury by making it to MLS Cup. Yeesh. For this autopsy/look ahead, we turn to Class VI Grand Poobah Mark Bodmer.

Now that we know the teams that will be making it to South Africa for the World Cup finals, i think its time we all took the bold step of picking our favorites to win the tournament. I know many of you might say that the right time to do this will be after the group stage draw that will happen in about two weeks time on the 4th of December.

Champions League action, the return of two scoring heroes and unfortunately some more violence from Argentinian football all feature in this week's the good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

Ronaldo returns

Good for Spanish giants, Real Madrid, who go top of the La Liga after a 1-0 victory over Racing Santander.

Everton will be aiming to make amends for Wednesday's horror-show at Hull City when they play host to an equally out-of-sorts Liverpool in the latest edition of the Merseyside derby this weekend.
The Toffees came out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller at the KC Stadium, where they allowed their relegation-threatened hosts to go three goals clear within the first half-hour before fighting back in the second period to make it 3-2.

That's the rumor, anyway. According to Pavlyuchenko's agent, Arsenal are among the teams bidding for the lanky Russian striker, who has thus far been a massive disappointment since arriving at Spurs from Spartak Moscow.

It seems pretty unbelievable. (A) He plays for Spurs, our arch-rivals, and (B) he hasn't been good enough to hack it there, so why would we go out and buy him?

Liverpool are ready to go ahead with a cheeky bid to snatch striker Louis Saha from Everton.
Manager Rafa Benitez has finally decided he needs someone to play alongside Fernando Torres.
But he'll face a battle with Toffees chief David Moyes, who wants to rush through a new deal for his French hitman.

Rafa Benitez targets former Manchester United and Fulham forward.

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Rafa Benítez and his No2 Sammy Lee are whispering conspiratorially, as they plot a raid on Goodison Park which, all going well, will result in them sneaking up on Louis Saha, throwing a blanket over his head, bundling him into the back of a car, speeding back across Stanley Park to Anfield and playing him up front alongside Fernando Torres.

The draw for the Champions League first knock-out round in February 2010 ahs taken place with the following teams set to face one another:VfB Stuttgart-FC Barcelona: Surely challenging for the Germans against a Catalan side that is getting into gear.Inter-Chelsea: A thrilling match where Jose Mourinho will face his former team, while Carlo Ancelotti will face his former arch-rivals.

Argentine needs to find more room on his mantelpiece!

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Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been named Fifa World Footballer of the Year to complete a stunning 2009 for the Argentine forward.

I understand that there's a lot of money involved in the World Cup. I understand that a lot of people are interested in the games. I recognize that this situation may lead to excess on the part of some people.
However, what we decidedly do not need is a fake heavy metal band called "The Group of Death" created by ESPN and their brain damaged ad agency Wieden+Kennedy:

In anticipation of the 2010 World Cup draw this Friday, we've worked with ESPN to put together a fun little thing for football (soccer) fans.