Real Madrid v Levante Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds La Liga 12 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Real Madrid can extend their lead at the top of the table to ten points with a win as they host Levante in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga). The match will take place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

Aston Villa v Manchester City Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 12 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Manchester City can go on top of the table with a draw or win as they travel to face 14th Aston Villa in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

Osasuna v FC Barcelona Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds La Liga 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

FC Barcelona are seven points back in the title race as they travel to face Osasuna in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga). The match will take place at the Estadio Reyno de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Udinese v AC Milan Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds Serie A 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

AC Milan can go top of the league table as they travel to face 4th place Udinese in the Italian Serie A. The match will take place at the Stadio Friuli Udine, Italy on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Newcastle United have won four of their last five league matches as they travel to face third place Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League.

Sunderland v Arsenal Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

The Black Cats have won their last three league matches as they host 6th place Arsenal in the English Premier League. The match will take place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Everton v Chelsea Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last five league matches as they travel to face 11th place Everton in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Celtic v Inverness Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds SPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Celtic have not lost a league match since early October as they host 10th place Inverness in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Dunfermline v Rangers Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds SPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Rangers look to close the gap in the title race as they travel to face Dunfermline in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at East End Park in Dunfermline, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Manchester United v Liverpool Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Manchester United can go top of the table with a win as they host rivals Liverpool in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

From Joe Roth to Adrian Hanauer to Sigi Schmid to players like Mike Fucito Seattle Sounders FC has been quite clear about their goals for this year. Another US Open Cup title will not be enough. It is a consistent organizational chorus that started at the End of Year Business Meeting and is hinted at in most conversations about the upcoming season.

Blackpool goalkeeper Matt Gilks tasted Premier League football last season with the Tangerines and now the shotstopper is looking for his side to make a swift return to the top flight.
The Seasiders sit just one point off the play-off places in the Championship table in seventh spot, in what has once again been a very competitive league this term with any side capable of getting a result in any game.

LeagueSpy.com A definitive and comprehensive betting guide to world football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Football betting can be a great investment or a waste of money, with an ever-increasing number of people deeming themselves football experts and putting their money where their mouth is on a daily or weekly basis, only to see their hard-earned cash taken from them.

With both Euro 2012 and the Olympics getting underway this summer, it is perhaps no surprise that speculation has been rife over who will make it into Fabio Capello's final squad for Poland and Ukraine, and who is in line for a call up for Stuart Pearce's Olympic Team GB squad and the Euro 2012 betting odds for one youngster in particular have just dramatically shortened.

Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson is reportedly on the verge of a move to Everton after undergoing a medical at Goodison Park on Thursday night.

The Irish midfielder has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford and was fined a week's wages last month after turning up for training worse for wear after a night out with team mates Jonny Evans and Wayne Rooney.

Most people looking at England euro 2012 betting odds will tell you that Frank Lampard is one of football's gentlemen. Rarely does he speak out of turn, yet he knows how to get his message across in the most devastating of fashions.

To use an old cliché, he does his talking on the football pitch, and when he slammed in that penalty against Manchester City last week, it was quite apparent that he is not prepared to hang up his boots just yet.

Betting Preview: Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and United to catch up with City - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

This weekend, the big teams have a chance to catch up with the Premier League leaders Manchester City, and you can get great betting odds for United, Arsenal and co.

Saturday sees Manchester United take on Newcastle United at the world renowned, historically named, never to be sold for naming rights, Old Trafford the Theatre of Dreams. Just for good measure it hosts the match at the traditional but somewhat unfamiliar time of 3pm and it could trigger a shift in the Premier League Betting odds.

Only two more rounds of the group stage of the Champions League remain, and for quite a few teams, that means the margin for error is slim to none.

Over the final two match days, there are a number of important games that will determine how things shake out. Several of Europe's elite, like Barcelona and Bayern Munich, who boast the tournament's leading scorers in Lionel Messi and Mario Gomez, are in favorable positions heading into their last two matches, but there are also a couple of notable few who still have some work to do to keep alive their quest to be the best.

I'd request the readers to allow me a small digression at the start of this post.

Background info: It had been two weeks since the birth of a pretty nondescript baby with an off-centre nose and the nascent signs of an irritating smirk on its face. The father took it awkwardly in his arms and said, ‘We shall christen him Nickspinkboots'.

Captain Carles Puyol leads FC Barcelona into Belarus to take on FC BATE (Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)

FC Barcelona go into their 400th match in a UEFA competition facing the brilliant news that Pique and Puyol are likely to start together for the first time since the 2-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu in last seasons Champions League semi-final first leg.

United's young guns have certainly impressed England boss Fabio Capello who has called up Tom Cleverley, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling into the senior squad for their Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria (bonus link: video interview with Cleverley and Jones).

They join team mates Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, who will be keen to carry on their goal scoring exploits on the international stage in tomorrow night's game (7.

If you look down Everton's squad it is hard to see why their fans are so restless at present.
They have a team packed full of internationals and promising youngsters with one of the best young managers in the game at the helm.
But look beyond that and you will see the fragile nature of the current side.

Arsene Wenger may well be the Premier League manager who is most often associated with the development of players and the rebuilding of squads, but it is Sir Alex Ferguson who has been more impressive at cutting the chaff from his squad and integrating young talent into his side in order to give it a boost and keep it able to fight consistently at the top of the Premier League, more often than not fighting successfully in a manner that brings with it trophies and glory.

Northern Irish champions Linfield have been drawn against BATE Borisov of Belarus in the second-round qualifying of the Champions League.
The IFA Premiership winners face a two-legged affair against BATE, who are the only Belarusian side to reach the group stages of Europe's top club competition and made the last-32 of the Europa League last season.

So after weeks of speculation and news that Chelsea have had a bid turned down for Luka Modric, Real Madrid have slapped a 40m Euros price tag on Kaka and after Guus Hiddink reportedly said to Roman Abramovich to go and buy Wesley Sneijder, I was wondering which one out of these three would you prefer to see at Chelsea?

Latest Transfer betting odds The transfer news is really hotting up amidst reports that Phil Jones, 19, is having a medical ahead of a £17m transfer to the champions. United are also being strongly linked to Ashley Young, 25, along with Luka Modric, 25, Wesley Sneijder, 26, and Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea, 20.

Latest Transfer betting odds The one thing Manchester United do not need right now is another winger and yet if we believe the latest transfer rumours Ashley Young could be heading to Old Trafford. The Villa winger has been strongly linked to several clubs including Liverpool, but reports claim United are the favourites to capture the England player in a reported £16m move.

The 2011 Women's World Cup begins on the 26th of June at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim, and it is appropriate that, with the tournament returning to Europe for the first time since 1995, it should be held in Germany. The Germans have won six of the last seven European Championships as well as the last two World Cups, and there has been a women's Bundesliga since 1990, which began its life as two regional divisions in 1990 before becoming a national league in 1997.

Although Stoke are not the prettiest team to watch, and are not exactly everyone's cup of tea when it comes to the manner in which they conduct themselves on the pitch (with Robert Huth not doing them any favours with his elbow early on in the game at the weekend), they certainly had earned the right to get to the final of the FA Cup.

Manchester City are facing up to the fact that their influential skipper Carlos Tevez's participation in next weekend's FA Cup final is still under some serious doubt. The 27-year old suffered a hamstring injury last month against Liverpool, and it is still very much touch-and-go as to whether the Argentinean will be included in the match-day squad that travel to Wembley on May 14th.

Tony Pulis is a man who is obviously taking the FA Cup extremely seriously this season. That much has, in fairness, been clear since the competition started all those months ago, with the manager consistently coming out with some entertaining fighting talk before Stoke's numerous fixtures, all of which have brought them to the point at which they are able to prepare for a semi-final clash with Bolton at Wembley, a game the FA Cup betting odds suggest they could win.

With Everton being dragged into a relegation battle, Chelsea faltering in defense of their Premier League crown, and West Ham struggling for any sort of consistency it is surely only a matter of time before the next Premier League manager is sacked.

In terms of patience shown towards managers this has been a relatively good season for those occupying the Premier League dugouts.

The Champions League is back, again. Last week, eight of the last sixteen teams had their first leg, and now it's time for the other half. We've got Real Madrid, Inter, Chelsea, United and more on tap.

Tuesday's Fixtures
Copenhagen vs. Chelsea
Lyon vs. Real Madrid

Team Blog Previews and Match Threads: Lyon, Real Madrid

Liveblog: Join us HERE 1 hour before kickoff to start our live coverage of both matches.

Ask a Chelsea fan a few weeks ago and they probably would have told you that Fernando Torres is an over-rated, injury prone whinger.
Ask Liverpool fans and they would have almost certainly told you he was one of the most gifted players ever to wear the red shirt and the man to lead Kenny Dalglish's Anfield revolution.

With South Korea waiting until the final possible moments for their heroics and ultimately it not panning out, Australia may have taken this as a warning, getting their foot on the pedal early very early. All of four minutes into the game Harry Potter Kewell put them one goal to the good.