The revised fixture list for gameweek 22 has been posted to the Fantasy Premier League website, and there are double gameweeks a plenty. Liverpool, Tottenham, Bolton and Arsenal have now joined Manchester United and Hull City with two games in this round. Potentially this could be the biggest points round of the season.

The post for most readers is at best fashionably late, but as we await the thaw of the permafrost in England, and as such await the re-arranged Carling Cup Semifinals, featuring American goalkeeper Brad Guzan against Blackburn Rovers, a side so... Read more

By now we've all all read and heard about the decision that Houston Dynamo attacking midfielder Stuart Holden has to make: Should he sign a new contract with the MLS and stay in Houston on a much better one then he has had the last few seasons, or taking the next step to get to the promised land of where the world's best compete on a weekly basis?

Here are the highlights from the Aston Villa's 5-1 win over Blackburn Rovers in the 3rd round of the F.A. Cup. Brad Guzan played and saved a penalty, which you can watch on the highlights below.

U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Clint Dempsey will not require surgery on an injured knee, according to a statement from Fulham Football Club following an MRI evaluation. Dempsey suffered moderate damage to a ligament in his right knee during Fulham's 2-0 loss on Jan. 17 at Blackburn.

If you plan on kidnapping any WAGS, I'm gonna have to go ahead and warn against it. Not just for the moral and legal problems such an activity would present, but also because now they have this panic alarm disguised as an iPod that sounds like it would thoroughly ruin any WAG-napping plans.

The first of four half-term report cards for the Premier League features Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Blackburn and Bolton:

ARSENAL (3rd, 41 points from 19 games)

With a fully fit squad, Wenger's young and exciting side have, at times, looked against the pre-season odds like real title contenders.

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Patrick Vieira joins Manchester City's £100,000 club
• 33-year-old looking to earn France recall
• Vieira could make debut against Blackburn

Patrick Vieira, here in Internazionale colours, could be handed the Manchester City captaincy while Kolo Touré is at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It's been too long since I've done one of these infographics. And it's not like it's hard to devise ways to graphically demonstrate Liverpool's dire season so far.
Through 20 league games, Liverpool's 14 points worse off than in comparable fixtures from last season. 14 more points would put Liverpool at the top of the table by two points over Chelsea, 3 points ahead of United with a game in hand.

The USMNT has just taken its fourth major hit in recent months. In today's fixture between Fulham and Blackburn, Clint Dempsey had to come off the field in the 62nd minute with a suspected knee ligament injury. The prognosis is not good. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson had this to say: "Clint will be scanned on Monday but we feel it might be a posterior cruciate knee ligament which would be very bad for us and he would be out for a while.

Dempsey reacts after scoring for the US against Ghana in 2006 World Cup/AP Photo As I am sure all fans of football in America are now aware, Clint Dempsey, the most recognizable and successful United States outfield player in Europe has suffered a potentially devestating injury in today's Fulham loss to Blackburn.

Fulham's American winger Clint Dempsey has suffered suspected cruciate knee ligament damage, which could jeopardise his place at the 2010 World Cup.The 26-year-old United States international was injured in the second half of Fulham's 2-0 loss to Blackburn and went to hospital for a scan."The initial prognosis for Clint is not good," said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson.

Clint Dempsey hit the bar for Fulham against Blackburn Rovers Sunday with a spectacular bicycle kick before suffering an injury that could end his World Cup dreams (AP Photo).

Bob Bradley is doing the same thing as the rest of us - waiting for word on the severity of the injury the U.S. forward suffered Sunday for Fulham.

Arsenal host Manchester United on Sunday in the weekend's big clash. Also on Sunday Pompey go to Manchester City. On Saturday, Burnley host Chelsea, Wigan welcome Everton, West Ham welcome Blackburn, Bolton go to Liverpool, Hull host Wolves, Fulham host Villa and Spurs go up to Birmingham.
Preview I
Preview II
Lawro's Predictions
Not participating on Sunday.

Carling Cup on Setanta: Blackburn - Aston Villa at 3pm. Copa del Rey on ESPN Deportes: Barcelona - Sevilla at 4pm. Premier League on Setanta: Stoke City - Fulham at 5pm. All Times Eastern

The English Premier League has two matches on Sunday, January 10, 2010 as West Ham United hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool hosts Tottenham Hotspur. West Ham and Wolves are seperating by only a point and both are in a battle to avoid relegation. Liverpool and Tottenham are battling for a top four finish and the last UEFA Champions League spot for next season.

According to Mohammed Bhana at Goal.com UK, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce is trying to sign two new players this month. Allardyce said,

"Money is available and ideally I would like to bring in two more players who are tactically and technically astute .

A Carlos Tevez hat-trick led Man City to an easy win over local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

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Manchester City 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (Tevez)

Manchester City 2-0 Blackburn Rovers (Richards)

Manchester City 3-0 Blackburn Rovers (Tevez)

Manchester City 3-1 Blackburn Rovers (Pedersen)

Manchester City 4-1 Blackburn Rovers (Tevez)

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If a string of draws where points were thrown away ultimately did for Mark Hughes, Roberto Mancini is quickly proving that the decision to trust him to take City to the next level was a smart one.
A home game against Blackburn, dogged and doughty opponents in games past, was the type of fixture that saw the wheels begin to come off under Hughes during the months of October and November.

Fox Soccer Channel will announce Tuesday that it'll launch it's second all-soccer network named Fox Soccer Plus on March 1, 2010, according to the Associated Press.

The news comes almost one week after EPL Talk broke the story that Fox had acquired the trademark and domain name to Fox Soccer Plus and that Fox was involved in negotiations to acquire Setanta Sports US.

Roberto Mancini's dream run with Manchester City continued as Carlos Tevez helped his side to win their Premier League encounter against Blackburn Rovers. It took a superb hatrick by the former United star to give City an emphatic victory over the Rovers. A close range goal in the seventh minute by Carlos set the platform for [.

"One of my friends, one of the few I have lately, told me, 'you're like Rocky'.I'm full of punches and blood but I say to my opponents, 'you don't hurt me, hit harder because you're not hurting me'. There's nothing that can knock me out, my mother used to hit me harder."
Under-fire Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara after watching his side lose four of their last five games.

By Chris Wright

I hope, for his mother's sake, that Mancini was a C-Section

Rumour No. 1: If their loan deal for Inter Milan's lightbulb-headed winger Mancini falls through, Olympique Marseille will look to Liverpool's Ryan Babel as a direct alternative.

The big news from the weekend was Clint Dempsey's injury. Dempsey left Fulham's game with Blackburn in the 62nd-minute. Fulham would eventually lose 2-0. Dempsey, Fulham, and the United States National Team are waiting the results of a scan to determine the extent of his injured knee. "It looks he has suffered cruciate knee ligament damage which if he has keeps him out of action for a while," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said.

Not good news for the U.S. National Team as Soccer America is reporting that Clint Dempsey suffered a knee injury in Fulham's 2-0 loss to Blackburn in today's game. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Clint Dempsey, a US Soccer supporters favorite looks like he could be available for the World Cup this summer.

That sound you just heard was the US Soccer community exhaling a collective sigh of relief. You know you just did! Fulham Football Club, the team that I follow and support in the English Premiership, announced late on Tuesday in England, that American international Clint Dempsey will NOT NEED surgery on his knee and is expected to make a recovery for Fulham before the end of the season.

By Chris Wright

Here's Wednesday's gossip round up, and what a round up it is!

Without doubt, the most common sight in Serie A

Rumour No. 1: Real Madrid are keen to add some defensive muscle to their ranks as the new wave of Galacticos continue to leak soft goals.

Fulham ended 2009 by sending Lincoln City four players, one of whom, Adam Watts, was there already. Watts' move becomes permanent, as is the move for Joe Anderson. At the same time, Michael Uwezu and Matthew Saunders are on a month's loan.

This represents good work from Chris Sutton, who played under Roy at Blackburn in the 90s and is noted by journalists to be a dark horse bet to become a decent manager in his own right.

The turn of the new year brings a whole new list of honors, and Blackburn striker Jason Roberts is delighted and surprised at being awarded an MBE. Roberts was given the award for his extensive charitable contributions in the United Kingdom and abroad.

"I'm very humbled by that award really," Roberts told rovers.

According to The News, Blackburn are interested in signing Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng this month. Borussia Dortmund are also linked with the 22-year-old.

It was announced recently that Stuart Holden, former Houston Dynamo player, has accepted a trial with English Premier League club Burnley. After his contract with the Dynamo finished, Holden is now a free agent and doesn't require a transfer fee. There has been speculation that Blackburn Rovers have also been interested in Holden but it appears Burnley has the upper hand.

Brad Guzan is turning into a penalty kick-stopping machine.

With the score 1-0 against Blackburn in the third round of the FA Cup, Guzan guessed correctly to deny David Dunn's potential equalizer from the penalty spot, and five minutes later, the Villains scored the eventual game-winner.

Aston Villa eased past Blackburn Rovers in this FA Cup tie at Villa Park.

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UPDATE: According to Arindam Rej at the Daily Mail, Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill would like to keep midfielder Craig Gardner but realizes that it might not be possible. O'Neill said,

"A number have enquired but there's been nothing definite.

Grenada and Blackburn Rovers striker Jason Roberts has been awarded a MBE from the British Queen in her New Year's Honours. Roberts received the honor for his charitable foundation that provides football programs for youth in the UK and Grenada. It's an honor that is well-deserved and recognizes the work Roberts has done to improve the lives of young people in his native country and his parent's country.

Monday 4th January
19:45 Partick Thistle v Greenock Morton, Irn Bru Scottish Football League First Division, BBC AlbaGreenock make the relatively short trip down the M8 in a bid to avoid being sucked further into the relegation zone. Warning: Commentary likely to be in Gaelic.
Tuesday 5th January
20:00 Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa, Carling Cup Semi-Final First Leg, Sky Sports 1/HD1Sound familiar?

Despues de haber avanzado una jornada mas en la FA Cup, la Premier se reanuda en su jornada 20, donde Manchester y Arsenal siguen a la caza del Chelsea, y vaya que el Chelsea no ha estado bien, históricamente Diciembre no es un buen mes para ellos, este diciembre tampoco lo fué.

El Chelsea lidera la premier con 45 puntos, seguidos del Manchester con 43 puntos.

The English Carling Cup has one match on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 as Blackburn Rovers host Aston Villa in the semifinals. The match will be covered live at the links below.

Free Live Sports TV Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa Engilsh Premier League Tuesday, January 5, 2010 20:00 GMT

Live Football Streams Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa Engilsh Premier League Tuesday, January 5, 2010 20:00 GMT

The English Football League Cup or Carling Cup begins the semifinal round this week with Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa and the Manchester derby of City v United. The tournament is a chance for Villa, Blackburn, and City to get a trophy while United will be the overall favorites. Here's a list of previews, predictions, and USA/UK television listings for the semifinal matches on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 and Wednesday, January 6, 2010.

- The Carling Cup Semifinals between Blackburn and Aston Villa has been cancelled. The decision comes on the heels of the Blackburn police force that the weather and wintry conditions was just too much to handle. - Of interest to some of our American readers Setanta Sports USA has had their Premier League contract run out, [.