What a big win, and a big loss! Conceding the goal in that manner added another chapter to the special Arsenal edition of 101 Extraordinary Ways To Concede A Goal. While the remarkable comeback in extremely trying circumstances completely countered the impact of that goal in the short term, the injury to Mertesacker will make the future games all the more challenging.

A trip to Goodison Park is just the tonic needed following our recent troubles, namely a bizarre, referee-induced three-goal collapse at home against Manchester United.

Wait, what? We rarely win at Everton? Shit.

Mean muggin'

We have actually won at Goodison this season, a 2-1 victory in extra time in the League Cup.

Barclays Premier League

Saturday 11th February 3pm

Sunderland AFC v Arsenal

Founded in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers AFC, Sunderland joined the Football League in 1890 and went on to win the League the following season.

The big win over Blackburn was immensely enjoyable and has lifted the mood in the Gooner camp to a great extent after an eminently forgettable January. A lot has already been said about the match and I don't want to revisit it in detail but there were two goals in that game that caught my eye.

Both the goals started from the back but were scored in a markedly different manner, each a delight in its own way.

All the talk was about the thrilling 3-3 draw between Chelsea and Manchester United. The Red Devils' powers of recovery were once again apparent when they had looked down and out following a four-minute blitz by Chelsea.
Everyone remarked that only Manchester United is capable of coming back and clinching a draw from the jaws of defeat.

We have seen how Liverpool suffered this season without any pace and creativity from midfield. Dalglish's preferred midfield foursome of Downing, Adam, Gerrard and Lucas will pass the ball to death but neither is comfortable to run with the ball.
Against teams that park the bus, especially teams that come to Anfield, the lack of unpredictability in the Liverpool play has caused the mighty Reds dearly.

After nine matches away, El Pistolero was back in the Liverpool line up. The Uruguayan had been watching in the stands as the mighty Reds gained excellent results against Manchester City and Manchester United without him. Suarez came on as a substitute and could not inspire Liverpool against a weakened Spurs team.

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- Five Years Ago Today: The "China Brawl"
- On This Day in Football: February 7.

El Manchester United borró una diferencia de 0-3 para lograr hoy un dramático empate a tres goles, todo como visitante del Chelsea en partido de la jornada 24 de la liga inglesa de fútbol. El puntero Manchester City aventaja solo por dos puntos a los red devils.

Los futbolistas del cuarto lugar de la clasificación de la Premier League el millonario Chelsea, abrieron el marcador por autogol del norirlandés Jonny Evans, cuando el reloj marcaba el minuto 36.

Well, we kind of had an idea that Arsenal were playing well but not getting the results. It was a matter of details according to Arteta, Wenger, and others. It all came good in this one as Blackburn were the hapless victims of a rampant Arsenal side.

Chance conversion was another issue which was put to bed, at least temporarily, with 7 out of 8 shot on target registering on the scoreboard.

Why Fernando Frequently Fails to Fire - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Useless. Flop. Goddamn waste of money. Adjectives are not too hard to come by when Fernando Torres is the topic of discussion. Few footballers have fallen as far and as fast as the former Liverpool hit man has in the past 2 seasons.

Clearly, every game is a very tough one for Arsenal on current form. Will the team get its first League win of 2012? Doesn't seem like it if we look at the manner in which Arsenal have dropped points in recent games, or the way Blackburn came from behind to win at home earlier this season, or the fact that Steve Kean is yet to lose against Wenger or Ferguson in the Premiership (2W, 2D)!

Chelsea-Manchester United is live on Fox at 7:30 a.m. A preview is here. The "game before the game" marks the second live Barclays Premier League game in two weeks on Fox. On Jan. 22, Fox drew 1.3 million viewers nationwide for Arsenal's 1-2 loss to Manchester United, making it the

In the preview I wrote, "there will be goals in this game for sure". I don't know how, but both sides managed to keep the ball out of their opponents' nets when scoring would have seemed like the easier option. Arsenal had a lot of chances, very good ones. And they missed them all.

Twitter went mad after the game, as it usually does after a disappointing result I guess.

Chelsea continue to hemorrhage money after announcing a loss of £67.7million for the financial year ending June 30, 2011.

That is only a slight drop decrease from the loss of £70.9million in 2010, as Chelsea struggles to fall in line with UEFA's new financial fair play rules.

Since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea, the blues have now lost a combined £620million.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is extremely impressed with Swansea City's home record and suggests that the toughness of the Welsh outfit at Liberty Stadium should ensure survival in the Barclays Premier League.

Following last night's 1-1 draw with the Blues, the Swans are now nine points clear of the relegation zone with a little over a third of the season left to go.

Liverpool recorded their first Barclays Premier League victory of 2012 with an...

Liverpool have hit some sort of form since Gerard has returned from injury. Chelsea stole a point late in the game at Swansea and are now six points ahead of Arsenal. This season has always been about a battle for fourth an it's time for the Gunners to buckle up and pick up the points in games like the next one at the Reebok, many much tougher games will anyway see Arsenal dropping points in the coming weeks.

Following the conclusion of a loan deal to send full-back Vedran Corluka to Bayer Leverkusen for the remainder of the season, Tottenham Hotspur are set to live up to their expectations of making significant moves at the eleventh hour.

The 25-year old Corluka's work ethic has been consistently praised by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp but the Croatia international's playing time was limited this season by the emergence of youngster Kyle Walker.

Fulham have stunned both Footballing Worlds by signing American Football player Tim Tebow on a free transfer.

"After being healed from my rib, lung and chest injuries suffered during the defeat to the Patriots earlier this month, I had a calling from God that I should try my hand at another sport this off-season," Tebow said.

Former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has told the Premier League leaders that his Queens Park Rangers side can help them claim the Barclays Premier League title if they loan out-of-favor striker Carlos Tevez to the West London outfit.

Hughes has entered the bidding for Tevez's services after the links to both Milan clubs, PSG, and most recently, even Liverpool, broke down without significant progress.

Former New England Revolution star Clint Dempsey could be changing teams before England's January transfer window comes to a close at 6PM ET on Tuesday. The current Fulham FC midfielder has been lighting it up in the Barclays Premier League with 15 goals through all competitions and could see a dream move to one of the top clubs in the league before Tuesday's deadline.

Arseblog has teamed up with Thomas Cook Sport, official travel partner of Arsenal, to offer two lucky fans the chance to win a pair of tickets to their Barclays Premier League clash with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday 4th February.

The Gunners will be in search of three valuable points against and some revenge against a Blackburn side for whom we scored two goals back in September.

Stoke City defender Robert Huth admits that getting anything out of tomorrow evening's trip to Old Trafford will be difficult but hopes that Manchester United are not at their best.

Huth, who is aware that the Potters have not defeated United in over 30 years, has seen the defending champions bounce back strongly from every setback and is worried that a backlash awaits following this weekend's 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Liverpool.

To the Liberty Stadium! Huzzah!

What could have been

By all accounts, this is going to be a difficult fixture. Face facts, we're playing poorly at the moment, and unfortunately hung up on numbers. Despite our medical staff's best efforts, we're shorthanded and facing the very real prospect of losing another face or two come Tuesday night?

Daniel Agger is feeling great after Liverpool's back-to-back Cup wins against Manchester opponents to knock City out of the Carling Cup and United out of the FA Cup but believes that there is plenty of improvement needed ahead.

Agger has always been a vocal critic of the Reds' struggles in recent years and thus, it comes as no surprise that despite scoring a brilliant headed goal to open the scoring in the 2-1 home victory over United, he is not satisfied.

If you carefully select portions of this game you can make a video highlighting many of Arsenal's major problems. With another selection you could also show the reasons that make the Gunners such a great team to watch and support. It was a classic Cup tie and one that will remain in fans' memories for years to come if it can spark a run of form.

There is a glimmer of hope amidst the sea of negativity that Arsenal have been swimming in recently. Some players are close to making their return after serious injuries. Of course, as we have seen with Wilshere recently and with others in the past, getting hopes up when it comes to injuries and Arsenal is not a smart choice.

Today as expected, Alex signed for PSG and ex Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti after asking to leave the club towards the end of last year.
The Official Chelsea Website posted up confirmation this afternoon with a statement that reads:

"Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have agreed terms for the permanent transfer of Alex to Paris St Germain.

There are a number of indications from the Arsenal camp that there won't be any major signings arriving at the Emirates Stadium for the remainder of the winder transfer window.

For starters, manager Arsene Wenger has made it clear that the return of Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs to full training diminishes the need to seek a new full-back.

Arsene Wenger has made it clear that he is strongly opposed to loan deals such as Emmanuel Adebayor's spell with Tottenham Hotspur.

Adebayor has been in fine form this season, scoring nine goals in 19 games for the Spurs after parent club Manchester City chose to loan him out at the beginning of the season.

Manchester City have officially went out from another competition, this time it's the Carling Cup after Roberto Mancini's side only managed to get a 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the competition's second leg, while getting beaten 1-0 in the first meeting.

Mancini himself was very disappointed at that failure but once again he put the blame on refereeing decision instead of his team's own performance, which the manager though already pleasing enough.

Manchester City have officially went out from another competition, this time it's the Carling Cup after Roberto Mancini's side only managed to get a 2-2 draw against Liverpool in the competition's second leg, while getting beaten 1-0 in the first meeting.

Mancini himself was very disappointed at that failure but once again he put the blame on refereeing decision instead of his team's own performance, which the manager though already pleasing enough.

A predictably disappointing result will largely overshadow an effort from the Gunners that was valiant and respectable for most periods of the game. Ultimately, poor defending from Arsenal gifted the win to United after a closely fought battle in which the sides shared spells of domination.

The starting line-up for Arsenal had a couple of pleasant surprises.

In a toughly contested match at the Emirates Stadium, Manchester United emerged 2-1 winners over Arsenal to move within three points of the Barclays Premier League summit.

Earlier in the day, league leaders Manchester City went six points clear at the top thanks to a late penalty kick converted by Mario Balotelli.

Manchester City went six points clear at the Barclays Premier League summit after a late penalty conversion from Mario Balotelli ensured a thrilling 3-2 win over a resilient Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

After a slow first half, the hosts came alive at the beginning of the second, with goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott creating a comfortable two-goal cushion.

We're off to Carrow Road tomorrow. My suggestion? Take the morning train.

It's a fixture that promises to be kind of fascinating. For one, it wasn't easy at Stamford bridge at the end of August; it sure won't be easy in Norfolk, either, with Norwich undefeated in four and currently in ninth.

Players on both teams involved in this weekend's Barclays Premier League clash between Manchester United and Arsenal have committed to Nike's "Make It Count" campaign, pledging to make 2012 the year in which they give everything in pursuit of perfection. Rio Ferdinand, Wojciech Szczesny and Theo Walcott will be amongst the players sporting boots embroidered with "#makeitcount" and the active

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric firmly believes that his side can win away to league leaders Manchester City this Sunday despite the hosts having a perfect record at the Eastlands this season.

Modric, who endured a shaky start to the campaign due to being distracted by a potential move to Chelsea, has rediscovered his form of late and after scoring in the Spurs' 1-1 draw against Wolves, he is approaching the clash with City with a strong mindset.

The time has finally come to play out the reverse fixture of the 8-2 defeat that Arsenal suffered at the hands of Manchester United on that horrific August evening at Old Trafford. The memories of that mauling are fresh on the minds of not only the Gunners fans but also European bookies like Champions League betting, which is why Arsenal have been priced as the underdogs even though this Sunday's match is taking place in the North Londoners' own backyard.