COS Contributor Andrew Walker wonders if Rafa days are numbered.

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Liverpool fans have finally come to the end of their tether over Liverpool's form this season in the Premier and Champions league made clear by a deafening silence at the end of another loss at Anfield to Arsenal followed by an inept display at bottom of the table Portsmouth.

Akron Zips (21-0-0) defeat South Florida 2-0, will now play Stanford (12-5-2) on Sunday, November 29 in Sweet-16.

Nov. 22, 2009 – Courtesy of Akron

AKRON, Ohio Junior Anthony Ampaipitakwong scored a pair of goals and the defense took care of the rest as the top-seeded University of Akron men's soccer team defeated South Florida, 2-0, before a record-setting crowd of 2,700 fans in second-round action of the NCAA Tournament Sunday at Lee Jackson field.

Ahead of today's game I had several concerns about how we were going to get on. I was worried that we were going to get outpassed in midfield. I worried that Didier Drogba would have too much for our third and fourth choice central defenders. I was worried after the less than passionate display against Liverpool that our players would struggle again to get themselves up for a big game.

WEST -- L.A. Galaxy v. Houston Dynamo
This is a quality matchup -- one better than the MLS Cup will be, sadly. These are the two best teams left in the field and I think both legs of this pairing will show it. I expect this to be a showcase of how good the league can be.
Needless to say there's a lot riding on this one, for me at least.

The International break is over and it is time to get back to Premier League action. The big game this weekend has to be the lunch time match up between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool v Man City
This is really a huge game for two teams who have Champions League ambitions.

I said in my preview post posted earlier today that it was a big game and a chance for us to establish a 5-point gap at the top of the table, and after a scrappy, hard fought and closer than expected game, we managed it through a great Barcelona at home header from JT. Chelsea lined up as expected with Ivanovic at right back, JT, Carvalho and Ashley Cole at the back, Cech in goal of course.

It is Friday morning and Sir Alex Ferguson has finished his pre-match news conference. There is a bit of good news on the injury front ahead of the all important game between Man United and Chelsea this Sunday.
After missing the midweek 3-3 draw against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, Nemanja Vidic and Dimitar Berbatov are fit to play on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo are set to face off for a place in the 2009 MLS Cup Final and it is anybody's guess which of these Western Conference powers will pull off the victory tonight at the Home Depot Center (11:25pm, ESPN2).

The Galaxy will be the host tonight and is a slight favorite, but the Dynamo has a strong enough defense and quality attacking weapons to score the upset.

Video goal highlights from the Republic of Ireland vs France first leg World Cup 2010 playoff game on November 14, 2009- Saturday. Game kicks off at Croke Park, Dublin- 20.00 GMT. Big, big game for the Irish- they need a good result here ahead of the second leg in Paris. Ireland vs France highlights and team [.

Your Gameweek 19 Captain, Fernando Torres
After Boxing Day, we'll be exactly half-way through the Premier League season. Exciting stuff. We'll have 5 more months of fantasy footie, a brilliant title race brewing, a few weeks off - and then bam: South Africa! But for now - our attention is focused strictly on the league.

So, are we going to bounce back from our lacklustre display against the old enemy or will the players put in another shocker against Steve Bruce's men?

The defeat against Stoke doesn't worry me. We played well, it was just unfortunate. Even more unfortunate it came before a big game but I think we would have lost at Arsenal in those circumstances 99 times out of 100.

It doesn't matter whether the night before I drank the local dry or was tucked up by ten o'clock with a hot mug of cocoa, I wake up too bloody early on the morning of a big game and can't go back to sleep again. As I'm lying in bed, telling my brain to switch off again so I can sleep, I play out scenario after scenario of how the day could go.

I came across a site last week which captured my attention. It's a site not dissimilar to most news aggregator websites like Footballblips, NewsNow and Soccerblogs. However, the nicest thing about CleverFootball.com is that the football news from blogs and/or broadsheets are segregated by teams. So one can read every news available on his/her team at CleverFootball.

Gameday is upon us. I don't want to talk any trash or make any predictions. We must avoid the jinx at all costs. It's not that I believe in that voodoo rhetoric, but why chance it? I will keep it simple and possibly very bland.

Here are a few game related articles. One states how Los Angeles is just 90 minutes away from the finals.

Tonight starts the conference finals in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. We all know the pairings going into the conference finals and for the most part we know who the league and ESPN are hoping to see in the MLS Cup.

We have our favorites and we certainly have our underdog. These next two games will put either a really high profile match in MLS Cup 2009 or one that sees a couple of western conference clubs battling it out like last year's two eastern conference teams did in LA.

Just how serious is this mini-crisis at United?

Manchester United currently sit third in the Barclays Premier League table level on points with Arsenal (who have a game in hand) and 5 points behind league leaders Chelsea. But how much is Sir Alex relishing this most recent International break?

Morning, morning.

Well can I just say:

FUCK YOU INTERLULL. I HOPE YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN BY A BUS. THEN RAPED BY A BEAR. IN THE FACE.

Leaving aside the fact we've had no Arsenal for two weeks the hysteria over last night's handball by Thierry Henry has been ludicrous. The ire of Ireland fans I can fully understand but the vitriol levelled at Henry from some quarters has been way over the top.

The International break is over and it is time to get back to Premier League action. The big game this weekend has to be the lunch time match up between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool v Man City
This is really a huge game for two teams who have Champions League ambitions.

Darren Fletcher has been receiving praise from all over recently as he goes on to prove himself as one of Manchester United's most important players.

Long hailed as a 'big game player' by our fans, the 25-year-old has now raised his game for every match, and topped that off with a blinding goal against Everton at the weekend.

West Ham v Manchester United
English Premier League
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Upton Park
Kickoff: 15:00 GMT

A big game for United as they try to put pressure on league leaders Chelsea who play City later in the day. For West Ham though, it's all about survival.

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano believes the team must use Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash at home to Arsenal as an opportunity to rebuild their battered reputation.
An early exit from the Champions League - for the first time since manager Rafael Benitez took over in 2004 - and stuttering domestic form have had some critics writing off the club.

Thank you all for coming out in the chilly weather to join the Soccerlens crew at the Soccerlens Match Viewing Party. The Liverpool v Arsenal game ended 1-2 with yet another away win in the Premier League this weekend.

Seems like this weekend was a good time to go play away from home in England as Birmingham City was the only team to get the three points at their home against West Ham United.

Today Chelsea take on Manchester United in the biggest game of the season so far. Todays game may be early in the season but today Chelsea have a chance to establish a 5-point lead on the other contenders in the title race.
Its the first time we have played United since the season curtain raiser at Wembley and is of much much more importance.

I said in my preview post posted earlier today that it was a big game and a chance for us to establish a 5-point gap at the top of the table, and after a scrappy, hard fought and closer than expected game, we managed it through a great Barcelona at home header from JT.
Chelsea lined up as expected with Ivanovic at right back, JT, Carvalho and Ashley Cole at the back, Cech in goal of course.

The Fire came into the second leg down 2-1 in aggregate goals facing an opponent that they've faced a huge number of times in the playoffs over the years, lately with good results. I could go on about the challenges that the Revs faced this year, but frankly it's not worth the time. This Fire team came into the playoffs in mediocre form, with rumors of trouble in the locker room and using a patchwork lineup.

I said in my preview post posted earlier today that it was a big game and a chance for us to establish a 5-point gap at the top of the table, and after a scrappy, hard fought and closer than expected game, we managed it through a great Barcelona at home header from JT. Chelsea lined up as expected with Ivanovic at right back, JT, Carvalho and Ashley Cole at the back, Cech in goal of course.

Is there any reason why the ACL final is played in Tokyo? Beyond the fact probably that they bid the most, they provide most of the sponsors, they are the best organisers and the wives of the senior officials can enjoys a few days shopping in Japan.
But beyond that and in footballing terms why is the final there?

As some of you may have read on here before, I'm a big fan of Michael Owen and have already written a couple of blogs on the Man Utd hitman, in which both somewhere champion Owen going to next summers World Cup. But after Fabio Capello revealed his latest squad for Saturday's game against Brazil last night, I think we can finally assume that Owen's South African dream is all but over.

Quick World Cup qualifier coverage update: If you're watching Ireland vs. France, we have options for partisans on either side, depending on whether you like your coverage with a Gallic accent or a Gaelic one. Our Ireland blog will be doing a liveblog right here (France fans welcome), and our France blog will be hosting an open thread, where you leave your thoughts in the comments.

Time For A Role Reversal!

Well the International friendlies seemingly proved to be our nemesis yet again, this time taking out our hottest striker Robin Van Persie. But its not as bad as we thought it to be initially. The official statement released by the club says that RVP will be back in action in six weeks contrary to the mammoth 3 months initially feared.

Just a couple of quick hits today:

Kudos to RSL for arranging a $300 non-stop flight for RSL fans from Salt Lake City to Seattle for the big game. The best part? The flight will be on the RSL branded plane. Other one-stop flights are available at $99 per flight.

ESPN has announced its broadcast plans for the game and lead-up to to the match.

Two bits of good news were announced yesterday, one is that Kieran Gibbs has not suffered any break to his ankle he just has some bad bruising and won't be out for long. I don't expect we will see him at the weekend, but back in time for The Chavs I hope. Silvestre ‘should' be able to cope against Sunderland on Saturday but The Chavs are a bit of a different story.

It would be foolish to have too strong an opinion either way on the hiring of the new TFC coach. What he has done in the past may be a foundation, but right now Preki puts a face on the 2010 season and the countdown has begun.
Positives
-TFC moved quickly and hired a coach before the dust had settled on the season.

FYI
I will be off Friday and Monday enjoying all that Seattle has to offer. So our good friend Graham Fox will be filling in. I have no doubt you will like it. His work here in the past has been fantastic. Have fun everyone, and don't miss MLS Cup.
- Bruce
STARTERS
If last Saturday's USA game at Slovakia was disappointing, then yesterday's game at Denmark was down right pathetic.

Rafael Benitez acknowledges that Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on Saturday is 'make or break' to their hopes of ensuring Champions League football next season.
The stakes are very high for boss Benitez, who has sent four players - Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera, Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio - to Belgrade this week for unorthodox placenta cell treatment on their injuries.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, real football is back. It's a surprise that most links on newsnow are still talking about the Henry incident. Perhaps, it shows the importance of what happened and what's at stake. I, for one, am happy to forget all that and bring my thoughts back to the main thing.

I think this was posted a day or so ago but still worth putting up here to hype tomorrow's big game. ESPN's Adrian Healy, Janusz Michallik and Robbie Mustoe give us a preview of this year's MLS Cup Final.

Instead of my usual big game prattle, I will do an impromptu quickie Top 5'er as my preview presentation.--Top 5 MLS Cup KeysThese five are ranked based on a combined factor of importance and "spectacularity".#5 - Watch your mouth, watch your challenges... just watch everything!With the way that MLS refs have thrown about the red card in 2009, nobody wants to be the guy who puts him team down a

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel believes that the Reds can make it through to the knock-out phase in the Champions League.
The Merseyside club do not have their fate in their own hands at the moment, as a win against Debrecen will have to be followed by a victory for Olympique Lyonnais away at Fiorentina to ensure that Rafael Benitez's charges remain in the running to reach the last 16.

Champions League football returns and we get a chance to secure top spot in the group with a good result tomorrow. The visitors have a good squad and are capable of putting up a fight, but there is no real danger as long as our players can get their focus and desire right. Not an easy thing as we have seen quite often in the recent past.