Sir Alex Ferguson has stoked the fire ahead of Manchester United's trip to Liverpool by saying he can understand why Sunderland's goal stood last week.
The Reds' dismal run of results continued when they succumbed 1-0 to the Black Cats thanks to a Darren Bent goal that deflected of a beach ball that was thrown onto the pitch by one of Liverpool's own supporters.

We are almost at the end of another season but there are still plenty of EPL fantasy points up for grabs. As the cellar dwellers battle it out to avoid the drop, there is opportunity to bring in a couple of relegation battlers. At the bottom it's do or die for 5 of the clubs and there may be some points being scored, probably in the attacking areas (there probably will not be any defensive spoils.

Arsenal, Man United, Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool Subs Make the Grade

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These guys could walk into most teams but for some reason find themselves having to sit next to physio and sub keeper every damn week!

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber held a special meeting in New York City with Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden on Thursday to discuss a new deal, according to Houston's FOX 26. The move is a strong sign that the league considers the up-and-coming U.S. international as one of their most important assets and wants to avoid losing him during the offseason.

English Premier League surviors Sunderland AFC have revealed their new change kit for the 2009-10 Barclays Premier League season. The kit will be officially launched at 6pm on Wednesday 8 July at the Stadium of Light. Here's a desciption of the kit from the Black Cats' website: The modern, clean design features a predominantly white, round-necked shirt.

English Premier League side Sunderland AFC unveiled their Umbro 2009/10 home kit yesterday. The new kit features a retro-looking v-neck shirt with the Black Cats' the traditional red and white stripes along with red panels on the arm and shoulder area and the Sunderland badge is housed within a shield.

English Premiership transfer gossip and rumours for May 11, 2009 Sunderland striker Djibril Cisse says that he is heading for White Hart Lane in the summer after being benched by Ricky Sbragia in the Black Cats' weekend game against Bolton Wanderers. Manchester City's Brazilian midfielder Elano has threatened to quit Eastlands if the club don't offer him [.

In life there are only a handful of things that are certain. You will watch Big Brother. It will irritate you. MPs will lie through their back teeth (and their front ones). Summer does make girls more attractive. And makes you feel less so. People who ring in radio stations with traffic updates are idiots.

While the Premier League title is all wrapped up, the final matchday of the season will be filled with lots of action and even more drama. The relegation battle is still entirely up in the air, with only West Bromwich Albion guaranteed to be playing Championship football next season.

Here's how everything stacks up for the clubs that can still go down:

16.

Sunderland have signed Arsenal-target Lorik Cana on a four-year contract. The player, linked with the Gunners by a number of transfer rumours is the third new signing for the Black Cats.

Manager Steve Bruce said:

I'm delighted to have brought Lorik to the club, especially given the number of clubs who had expressed an interest in signing him," said Bruce.

A teenage Liverpool fan who caused one of the oddest goals in English football history came out of hiding yesterday to apologise profusely for belting a beach ball onto the pitch.
Callum Campbell, 16, told the Sunday Mirror newspaper it was he who whacked the inflatable onto the pitch, triggering Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Oct 17.

Former Manchester United striker and current Sunderland player-coach Dwight Yorke was spotted in the Caribbean island of Trinidad yesterday. Renowned for his playboy lifestyle, Yorke was seen frolicking in the island sunshine during Trinidad's annual Carnival celebration. Since Trinidad and Tobago captain Yorke is suspended for the nation's upcoming CONCACAF FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Honduras [.

With the Premier League drawing to a close it's time for a look back at the season. Ryan Giggs has somehow already picked up the PFA player of the season, despite playing a mere 1313 of a possible 3150 Premier League minutes. The title was all but decided by Howard Webb's errant whistle and a meek Spurs capitulation at Old Trafford a few weeks back.

One of the major talking point of the previous season was the inability of Arsenal to break down sides. This was at its peak when Fabregas was absent and the side struggled to find any sort of attacking cohesiveness to dismantle the ultra cautious approach of the opponents we faced.
Particularly frustrating was the game against Sunderland when the Black Cats felt they never had it so easy at an Arsenal ground in recent years.

The Premier League have confirmed that Liverpool's game at Sunderland on Saturday will not be replayed despite the controversial nature of the game's only goal.
Darren Bent struck the winner for the Black Cats when his shot deflected off a beach ball. The involvement of an unrelated object should have meant that the goal was chalked off.

I haven't had a chance to see both goals yet but I read a telecast of the match between United and Pompey tonight. So here's my fairly accurate report on the day that Scholes reached 600 United caps, with some interesting news to boot!
From what I read, we were in control for the majority of the match.

Fernando Torres & Robbie Keane could have been the deadliest double act since Starsky & Hutch, had Rafa Benitez not thought otherwise. As it happens they had to settle last week for separate feats, separate plaudits, and separate points hauls.

Torres could realistically have expected to be the week's king in the Fantasy League with a splendid hat-trick against Phil Brown's tame Tigers, but his eschewed strike-partner grabbed the honour, four goals against Burnley meant plenty of spilt claret for Owen Coyle, as the Fantasy Premier League season took another set of twists and turns.

Anton Ferdinand, Rio's younger brother, will be cursing himself as his own goal on the 92nd minute gifted Manchester United an undeserving equalizer and a share of the points in the process, as the Black Cats of Sunderland played more superior football than their counterparts in red, and in truth deserved to take all 3 [.

But who is number one?

No matter who they support, many football fans believe that their team is the pride of their area. Pride is not only about success, but also about reputation and respect for the team and their supporters. With Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the Premier League, there is always going to be debate about just who is the pride of the North East?

Steve Bruce can rest easy coaching Sunderland because the club that he grew up worshiping is no longer in the Premiership. There will be no matches with Newcastle and its fans who will call Bruce out. What about the suspicions that Black Cat fans may have?

"I think they like one of their own from the north east," .

Here is a look at the New PSV Eindhoven Uitshirt ( Away Shirt) to be used for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. This is the only shirt release from PSV this season as the home shirt for 2009-10 is the same as the one which was used for the 2008-09 season. The new PSV away jersey [...] Related posts:

1. New Sunderland 2009-10 Away Shirt Umbro After the new Sunderland home shirt, the Black Cats have.

The new Hull City kits for the 2009-10 season, manufactured by Umbro have been released. Totesport.com replaces Kingston Communications as Hull's shirt sponsors. The name totesport.com will feature on the new Hull home shirt, while we'll see only totesport on the away strip. The junior shirts will not carry the totesport logo because of gambling [.

The Black Cats are expecting their own skipper to leave, and want the Irishman Richard Dunne to replace him. Sunderland are hoping to have Richard Dunne on their books by the end of the week. The Manchester City captain has been linked with a move away from Eastlands this summer, and Sunderland are hoping to lure him [.

Sunderland have signed free agent Paolo da Silva, the Paraguay international has been contracted by The Black Cats for three years. The defender has agreed a move to the Stadium of Light after his contract with Mexican side Toluca expired. He had been expected to join the Black Cats, but there were reports of late interest from [.

Here's the latest European Transfer News including Peter Crouch nearing a deal to sign with Tottenham Hotspur and John Terry stating his committment to stay with Chelsea.

Tottenham close to signing Crouch - Sky Sports News understands Tottenham are closing in on the capture of Portsmouth's Peter Crouch in a £10million deal, while Sunderland are negotiating to sign Darren Bent.

Big plans brewing in the north-east.

Sunderland are preparing a double raid on Tottenham for David Bentley and Michael Dawson.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce will tempt Spurs chief Harry Redknapp into doing business with a £16million offer for the pair. And the Spurs gaffer will use that money to step up his pursuit of Chelsea's England ace Joe Cole.

About bloody time!

"Robbie do you know why Harry doesn't answer my calls?"

Sunderland's lengthy pursuit of Darren Bent could soon bear fruit after the Tottenham striker flew north to tie up a £14m move, BBC Sport understands.
The 25-year-old has long been a target for Black Cats boss Steve Bruce but the two clubs have, until recently, failed to reach agreement over the fee.

Hopefully this rumour will not lead to anything!

Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has claimed the transfer speculation surrounding midfielder Lee Cattermole is unsettling for both the club and the player.

Liverpool and Sunderland have been strongly linked with the England Under-21 international over the summer, with Black Cats' boss Steve Bruce formerly in charge at Wigan admitting he will test the Latics' resolve in trying to sign the player.

Gallery, images, photos and pictures of Sunderland v Chelsea, Premier League, Round 2, the 18th of August.

This match has yet to start..

Steve Bruce's second string eased past League One side Norwich at Carrow Road. An Andy Reid double helped the Black Cats to a comfortable path to the third round.

0-1 Tainio

0-2 Reid

0-3 Reid

1-3 Hoolahan

1-4 Tudur Jones (Own Goal)

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Premier League fans in the United States will once again get the chance to see Burnley take on their new Premiership opposition. This week it comes in the form of Sunderland at Turf Moor.

When the schedule was initially released before the season started, I doubt that many people were circling this date on their calendars.

A former United stalwart returns to Old Trafford this weekend (along with a few other familiar faces), bringing along with him a Sunderland team that have endured something of a yoyo start to the season. Yes Steve Bruce skippered the Reds to three Premier League titles once upon a time but he will be desperately hoping to outwit his former mentor in the opposing dugout come Saturday.

Before today's games my colleague Taylor Fisher predicted a Portsmouth victory in today's game away to Wolves. Indeed he was right and the 1-0 victory puts new life in to Pompey's season. Wolves have had a patchy start to the season and their opposition exploited their weaknesses and have given Paul Hart some relief from the turmoil surrounding the club.

The fallout of Manchester United's 2-2 draw with Sunderland extended to the dressing room, as reports suggest Alex Ferguson and goalkeeper Ben Foster had a bit of an argument. Foster made a poor decision coming out to catch Andy Reid's chipped ball for Kenwyne Jones, resulting in the Black Cats' second goal.

Arsene Wenger has his sights set on Sunderland captain Lorik Cana as he aims to bring some bite to Arsenal's lightweight midfield. Reports from the Sunderland Echo suggest that Arsenal will do their best to sign the Albanian midfielder when the transfer window opens.

Cana is a new signing at the Stadium of Light having joined the Black Cats over the summer.

If the Hammers think that coming back to draw with Arsenal represent the proverbial "turn the corner" then the good work must be continued with another fine display against Sunderland. Playing at the Stadium of Light is not an easy task as the Black Cats have very passionate fans which can prove to be the 12th man for the home side.

With three of the top four involved in the FA Cup Semi-Finals, Premier League attention this weekend was focused on the relegation battle.

Not for the first time this season, Djibril Cisse scored a vital winner for Sunderland against a key relegation rival...but from an offside position.

Roy Keane's return to football management was almost a certainty after his departure from Sunderland, however his return to football management at Ipswich Town has come as a move which hardly anyone would have predicted. The Tractor Boys achieved European glory under then manager Bobby Robson when they lifted the Uefa Cup back in 1981.

Two draws in the last two games would have been enough to keep the Black Cats in the top flight, but some poor defending led to a loss that sees them desperately fighting for a place to remain in the top tier of English football.

The game at Fratton Park began with the hosts setting the pace of the game, and they came close to taking the lead on more than one occasion.

When I heard that Steve Bruce was being lined up as the replacement for Ricky Sbragia, a few alarm bells rang in my head. Bruce, being a Newcastle United fan surely couldn't be Ellis Short and Niall Quinn's choice as the new Sunderland manager could he? Would Bruce seriously consider near enough ruling himself out of becoming Newcastle manager in the near future by taking the job?