A gamblers spirit, it is said, is a necessary part of all human endeavour. For a man who by all accounts is a fan of a little gamble, which some, most notably the outspoken Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, have accused of him being too focused on, Michael Owen must appreciate that he must play the odds and take the plunge for his next bet, which could well determine how English football remembers one of it's favourite sons.

Manchester United and Alex Ferguson sent a message to the rest of Premier League yesterday and, I would suspect in particular, to Rafa Benitez by beating Chelsea 3 - 0 at Old Trafford in the big game of this weekend's English Premier League fixtures. Ferguson believes his club can catch Liverpool by beating the other [.

One point.

One point in two matches is all Manchester United must earn to claim the 2008-2009 Barclays Premiership title to its trophy case.

The Red Devils trot out Saturday for their first opportunity to claim the crown as struggling Arsenal come calling.

The Gunners have dropped two straight matches – a 4-1 drubbing to Chelsea last weekend and a 3-1 pasting against United back on May 5 in Champions League play.

After Day One of the Barclays Premier Asia Trophy competition being held in Beijing, China it will be a Tottenham v Hull City final on Friday.
Tottenham beat West Ham 1-0 in the first game and West Ham's day was made worse when Luis Boa-Morte was stretchered off after damaging his cruciate knee ligaments.

This week included two gigantic matches in world football, the North London Derby, Arsenal against Tottenham, and Ajax against Feyenoord. Pellegrini is a bit safer at Madrid, and Benitez is moving up the spots in the sack race. While Inter escape to the top of Serie A, seven points above second place Juventus, Portsmouth start getting the three points needed to start moving up the Premiership table.

A great weekend full of upsets and big matches and missed penalties, especially in the Premiership.
Roma - Lazio *ROMAN DERBY SPECIAL*
A derby which could be described as a game of two halves, the first half was rather dull and boring with both clubs unable to scare each other.

In the Premiership Chelsea continues to stay at the top of the table while Manchester City probe themselves against Arsenal, Manchester United able to come back against Tottenham 3-1 and with the Manchester derby next week the table might start to take its form.
In Serie A everything continues as expected except Roma who with new coach Claudio Ranieri are
able to get a 2-1 win against Siena.

Big weekend in the Premiership, Manchester derby ends in an exciting 4-3, Owen scoring the final goal six minutes into injury time giving the red devils a precious win. Chelsea beat Tottenham 3-0 to stay at the top of the table, while Liverpool overcome a tough West Ham United side 3-2, with two goals by Torres and one by Kuyt.

In England, Liverpool is beaten 2-0 by a powerful Chelsea side which moves to the top of the Premiership.
In Italy, Italian champions Inter Milan move to the top of the Serie A beating Udinese 2-1 with a late winner by Sneijder in stoppage time.
In Spain, Real Madrid is taken down by Sevilla 2-1, while Barcelona struggle with Almeira winning 1-0 with Pedro scoring.

Lots of big matches this weekend, especially in Seria A, while in England, Blackburn claims the East Lancashire derby against Burnley, and in Spain, Barca stay top even with a draw, while Raul breaks all records with his 711th match for Real Madrid in which he scored a brace.
Click Read More to read full reports and reviews on all three leagues.

This weekend was full of action, not only were there big games between top tier teams, but some matches were just as important for the other teams.
For full match reports, click read more.
In England, the weakened Liverpool side that was ready to crack overcomes Manchester United winning 2-0, this win lets Chelsea stay top of the table, and will hopefully revive the Reds.

This week's QOTW is a very controversial quote by Sir Alex Ferguson, head honcho at Manchester United. After a 2-2 draw Sir Alex Ferguson commented on the fitness levels of the referee Alan Wiley, here is his quote so you can see what the scottish boss said about Alan Wiley.

"He just wasn't fit enough for a game of that standard," Ferguson said.

Tonight one of the biggest matches in the EPL pitting two of England's Dominant clubs Chelsea and Manchester United at the Stamford bridge will definitely be a match to watch. Both these teams are separated by just two points in the Barclays Premiership title race.

Chelsea's fantastic start to the season will get better if they beat a Manchester United side that seem to be coping well in their post Ronaldo era.

In this weekend of European action France really cranked it up a notch, a 5-5 draw between Lyon and Marseille showed not only great attacking talent, but also defensive organisation.
In England, Hull City get an important win over Stoke City with a late winner by Vennegoor of Hesselink, this win eases the pressure on Phil Brown, who was leading the sack race recently.

You have probably heard of Wigan's destruction while facing Tottenham Spurs this past Saturday. Just in case you have not, here is a link: Tottenham-Wigan Athletic.

Wigan took their first step towards the Premier League in 1997 when they won the Third Division under John Deehan. Paul Jewell then earned promotion to the First Division with a points tally of 100 in 2002/03, just his second season at the club.

This week was full of action, in which the MLS Cup was conquered by Real Salt Lake.
*MLS SPECIAL*
The MLS Cup between LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake ended in an epic penalty shootout, both teams put heart into the game, but in the end, Real Salt Lake prevailed in the shootout, claiming the 14th MLS Cup.

This week was full of massive games, every major league had at least two gigantic clashes, providing for spectacular footy for all us fans to watch.
Barcelona-Real Madrid EL CLASICO


An extremely important game for both teams, Real Madrid wanted to solidify their lead over Barcelona, while the Blaugrana wanted to catch up to Los Blancos.

The Premiership's double week was fantastic, causing some upsets and switches, but here are the biggest results.
A match with probably the two biggest challengers for fourth, Tottenham prove their solidity while revealing Manchester City's cracks with a fantastic 3-0 victory. Kranjcar scored the two most valuable goals; the first in the 37th minute (followed by Defoe's goal), and the third in the 90th, putting the killer nail in Manchester City's coffin.

20 years old Carlos Vela was an unused substitute, as Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side drive close to Chelsea and Manchester United in the Barclays Premiership with a big 3:0 win over Aston Villa.

The Gunners secured the victory in the second half as Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas joined the pitch to score a brace and with just few seconds left attacking midfielder Abou Diaby slotted home for the Gunners.