Fifa's World Rankings came out today. World Cup winners Spain remain in top spot followed by The Netherlands, Germany and Brazil down to 4th place!
England are in 6th place, one adrift of Argentina who are in 5th.
Egypt is the highest African team in 9th. The USA is 18th. Russia and Switzerland drop out of the top 20 teams in the world.

By Ollie Irish

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Real Madrid's Mesut Ozil

Photos: PA

A dominant win (62% possession, 15 shots on target it should have been much more comfortable) for Jose Mourinho's New All-Star Galacticos (© Pies) in the Special One's first European game in charge at the Bernabeu.

The Weekend Six Pack, week II Betting Preview is a post from: Just Football

Welcome back to the Weekend Six Pack. Each week on Just Football, our new betting columnist Rob Hartnett will bring you six bets from the weekend football action. Rob is the public face of leading In Play betting specialists 188BET.

By Ollie Irish

Featuring the cutest mascot you ever did see...

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A young Scunthorpe United mascot on the pitch prior to kick-off

Fergie missed a senior United game for only the third time in his tenure at Old Trafford, because he was in Spain scouting Champions League group rivals Valencia.

In 1997, the UCLA Bruins destroyed the Texas Longhorn by a final score of 66-3. Ask any Longhorns fan and they still cringe when thinking about that game. Fast forward to Saturday and the Longhorns wanted revenge; UCLA was in Austin for the first time since the 1997 massacre. However, a funny thing happened on the way to Texan revenge .

Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back for the new season.
Every week he will be here to offer you statistical gems to make your day, impress your mates and, on occasion, to settle the odd bet.
Sky Sports' voice of football and his back-up team of experts are here to answer your questions and queries on all things statistical and historical from the beautiful game.

By Ollie Irish

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England Footballer Wayne Rooney leaves the terminal building at Luton Airport, Bedfordshire. The footballer will head to Switzerland with the England team amid lurid allegations about his private life.

The midfield has been very good. Nasri continued his pre-season form and looks a fantastic player, his injury is a blow. To see Nasri take on and beat a player then lay off an accurate pass is to see the future of this Arsenal team. Should /When Cesc goes, this will o' the wisp is his natural successor assuming he remains fit.

David Beckham (2 May 1975) plays midfielder for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

It's official. Beckham is back... and just in time. The Galaxy kicked off this season on fire and seemingly unbeatable. However, the past several weeks haven't been as kind to LA, whether at home or on the road.

It has to be as sure a bet as you're ever likely to get, not quite impossible to lose but as near a certainty as can be. Managing the same club for 700 consecutive Premier League matches is a record...
Continue to the full story

Now that we have a month of Premier League football under our bet, it's starting to become a bit more clear who are the season's studs thus far (Drogba, Malouda, etc.) and it's duds (Lampard, Gerrard, etc.). So when it ... Continue reading →

Bobby Smith and Greaves in the European Cup Winners team in 1963 Spurs losing at half time; winning at fulltime. Goods odds on that I should think. Not a bet that my nervous disposition would allow me to make though. But it adds an element of resilience to the list of qualities we have acquired lately.

I'll bet she got this in fewer tries than Wayne Rooney, who then phoned her up.

• Triestina fans see the future, don't like it. (When Saturday Comes)
• Winter football gets political. (Never Mind the Bolsheviks)
• Removing money from your wallet with kits. (Guardian)
• Yoann Gourcuff's stock is just depleting.

Bolton v Manchester United is normally a Premier League fixture that sees the Old Trafford outfit come away with all three points. However, with Owen Coyle once again making Bolton a tough place to visit since his controversial arrival, Sir Alex Ferguson will know all too well that his side will simply have to be at their best if they are to finish the next round of fixtures with all three points and keep up the pressure on league leaders, Chelsea.

So, following up on the whole Pepsi Refresh thing, the days leading up to the final vote had me fearing the worst, with Jimmy Conrad playing up the competition aspect something fierce all over the Facebook and the Twitter, with Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle and God knows who all else getting into the act.

"Chelsea are the best team in the Premier League at the moment. They are probably going to win the Premier League title easily. They are a strong team, who have been playing together for many years. They have a fantastic manager and they have worked to reach this situation."
-Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini

Really?

Do you enjoy soccer? Do you enjoy reading keywords about soccer? Do you enjoy reading redundant and repetitive keywords about soccer? Or do you prefer football? Do you say football to sound cool around your friends that don't say football, or only say football in terms of the American sport?

Then this article is for you!

This isn't the first time I'm writing a CL preview with Lyon in such dire straits. In fact, I'm pretty sure this sort of thing happens several times a year. Like every month. Before every European match. Because no matter how poorly Lyon are doing domestically, they manage to get their shit together in time for the Champions League (though right afterward, things go to hell again).

This isn't the first time I'm writing a CL preview with Lyon in such dire straits. In fact, I'm pretty sure this sort of thing happens several times a year. Like every month. Before every European match. Because no matter how poorly Lyon are doing domestically, they manage to get their shit together in time for the Champions League (though right afterward, things go to hell again).