The English Premier League continued on Saturday, September 12, 2009 with some great mtaches. Two of the biggest were Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United, Stoke City v Chelsea, and Manchester City v Arsenal. Was Manchester City able to show they are for real against Arsenal, did Tottenham continue their great start against Man U at home?

It feels like the season has really begun now, the international break is well behind us, the Champions League & the Europa League are in full swing, and the big clashes are starting to come thick and fast.

Here are my predictions for this weekend's Premier League fixtures - make sure you add yours to the mix and check out the podcast crew's predictions for this weekend's big matches across Europe as well.

Every club has one. That vital cog that keeps the team wheels turning. With the season in its infancy, supporters up and down the land are still harbouring dreams of glory (or at the very least over achievement, given that short of a billionaire Sheikh turning up on your doorstep, thoughts of the title are confined to a privileged few these days).

Week 3 would bring more outstanding football action to your favorite football league. Chelsea would continue their dominant ways and prove not to go down the same negative path as they did last year in the Carling Cup with a 3-0 victory over Burnley. Chelsea's offense is clicking on all cylinders and looks like it might be the best in the league this season.

Obviously the news has been a little slow this weekend due to the international break.
First off lets catch up with our Wanderers who were playing for their country:

Gretar Steinsson featured for Iceland in a 1 all draw with Norway in a Qualifier. Steinsson made the cross which resulted in Iceland's goal.

Is it worse to spit at someone or punch them in their dodgy kidney? Croatia striker Ivan Klasnic has allegedly confessed to his new boss Gary Megson that he did spit at England skipper John Terry - but he claims he only did it because Terry punched him in the kidney. Bolton's new signing had two [..

The English Premier League is starting to heat up with some crucial matches this weekend including Manchester United v Manchester City. Other matches of interest are Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United v Liverpool. It should be an exciting and busy week in the Premiership. Can Man City and Chelsea remain perfect or will either of them lose?

MLS on Fox Soccer Channel: Chivas USA - Seattle at 3pm. EPL on ESPN2: Burnley - Sunderland at 7:30am. On Setanta: Arsenal - Wigan at 9:30am and Hull - Birmingham at 6:45pm. On Fox Soccer: Aston Villa - Portsmouth at 10m, West Ham United - Liverpool at 12:30pm, and Bolton Wanderers - Stoke at 5:30pm. Championship on Setanta: Cardiff City - Queens PArk Rangers at 10:15pm.

Well you've got to hand it to him, Gary Megson must have the thickest skin in professional football. I've seen him barracked by his own fans at 4 different clubs over the years and that's some going, even in the fickle world of the football supporter. At a Nottingham Forest game, I saw fans come to blows trying to get to him, at Leicester I saw a fan throw his season ticket at him in his 3rd game in charge.

It's approaching that stage of the season when the clubs down the bottom of the table start to think about change. The fans grow increasingly impatient and demanding, owners and directors are put under immense pressure, and players lose complete confidence in themselves, prompting a change of manager and a new boost for the club [.

There are reports today that we half expected that a couple of Premier League clubs may try to sign our 20 year old striker Andy Carroll. Andy Carroll - local lad going nowhere Bolton Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers have lower attendances than we are getting in the Championship and are said to weighing up a deadline day move for 20 year-old [.

Four games into the season, and some pundits are already musing that Liverpool's dreams of bagging a maiden Premier League crown are all but shattered.
Rafael Benitez's men have kicked off the 2009-10 campaign in see-sawing fashion, with two losses (against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa) and two wins (over Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers).

Jamie Carragher has hit back at those who have written Liverpool out of the Premier League title race so early on in the season.
The Reds came in for heavy criticism after losing two of their opening three games of the new top flight campaign.
But Rafa Benitez's side showed character to bounce back at the weekend as they twice came from a losing position to beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2.

Despite the club's inability to give themselves a strong launching pad at the start of the season, Liverpool legend John Barnes has pointed to Manchester United's early campaign blips in past years as evidence of how Rafael Benitez's Reds needn't be written off so soon.
Liverpool lost to Tottenham Hotspur and also to Aston Villa, but beat Stoke City emphatically, and also showed good character to overturn a losing position against Bolton Wanderers and win 3-2.

Liverpool winger Albert Riera has told Spanish publication AS of a bust-up he had with manager Rafael Benitez and confirmed his anger at failing to start the first three games of the season for the Merseysiders.
"I didn't play the first game because I started training late after the Confederations Cup, like [Pepe] Reina and [Fernando] Torres," he said.

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Welcome to this week's edition of TGIF, where FTK takes a look at some of the stories that have energised Insiders on the site this week. International weeks are always frustrating because of the risk of injury to our key players. This week was no exception and without further ado, let's dive straight in.

Liverpool have endured a sluggish start to the season, spurring widespread speculation that the Reds are already out of the title running.
A dramatic late 3-2 win against Bolton Wanderers, thanks to another timely Steven Gerrard thunderbolt, is just the momentum-changer that manager Rafael Benitez believes his club needed.

It's been a strange old start to the season for Liverpool. They headed in with sky-high expectations after taking home the silver medal in last season's Premier League race, but the mob from Merseyside have lost two and won two in their first four games of 2009-10.
And it could have been worse - for when the half-time whistle blew in their last outing against Bolton Wanderers, it looked like the Reds would go into the international break with three defeats under their belts.

There are two conflicting reports which state Danny Shittu, Bolton's out of favour defender, is finally leaving The Reebok Stadium. The Lowestoft Journal links the Nigerian with Ipswich Town while Tribal Football echoes The Mirror's story that Sheffield United have landed Danny.

Ipswich Town

A move to Portman Road would probably welcomed by Tractor Boys' manager, Roy Keane, who told the Lowestoft Journal;

"There's just one or two areas where we are coming up short at the moment.

Ah yes, it's that time again, Carling Cup third round. Click here to see the BBC's usual compendium of statistics of varying degrees of usefulness. Bolton will face West Ham at the Reebok, in what is arguably one of the most high profile ties for this round. It could also be seen as the Fallen From Grace Clubs tie.

The English Premier League continues its 2009-10 season with a full set of matches this upcoming weekend. There are not as many marquee match-ups as last weekend which had the Manchester derby. Chelsea remains perfect atop the table while Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool are close behind them.

Since I did not do the EPL review for week 5, I figured I'd might as well combined weeks 5 and 6 together in this bumper post on the Barclays Premier League weekend matches review.
Week 5 was all about the fiercely contested Manchester derby in which an Adebayor-less Manchester City traded punches with Man United.

From mcfc.co.uk:

Tal Ben Haim has joined Portsmouth on a free transfer.

The experienced 27-year-old Israeli international defender who made his name in this country at Bolton Wanderers, managed just nine starts for City following his switch from Chelsea last year.

In the most prosaic terms, Steven Gerrard's goal for Liverpool against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday was enough to win a football match and earn his team three much-needed points. But, as has so often been the case in the career of a genuine sporting tour de force, Gerrard's strike meant so much more than that.

Unlike last year, when summer transfer deadline day saw some records broken and millions upon millions of pounds change hands, things were a lot quieter this time around.

But as always, it's just as much about who didn't move as it is about who did move, and there were plenty of misses to go with the hits.

Unfortunately due to imaging rights I can not post a picture of our new signing Ivan Klasnić. A brief biography for those who don't know: Klasnić gained fame at FC Pauli in his hometown of Hamburg. In 2001 he transferred to Werder Bremen, gaining quite a fan following and the nickname the Killer (which can't be a bad thing).

Arsenal

What they wanted

Arsène Wenger admitted he was looking for defensive cover and a defensive midfielder, along with 'half the managers in the Premier League'

What they got

Arsenal have made an impressive start and that may have convinced Wenger that the squad he has - with the addition of Thomas Vermaelen - will suffice

Pleat's verdict

Maybe a talented big man to replace Emmanuel Adebayor would have given them variations.

In these sickening economic times, finding enough fans to fill your stadium can be difficult. Which is why Bolton Wanderers have decided to expand their search for new seat fillers beyond the borders of their own city and into those of their rivals namely, and curiously, Blackburn.

From the Lancashire Telegraph:

The initiative, also being run in Manchester and Bolton, is inviting people to nominate "community champions".

Former Bolton Wanderers' front man Johann Smith is still looking to get comfortabe as he settles into his new life in Croatia after his summer signing with NK Rijeka in the Prva Liga.

Like every weekend here in the Premier League this week's upcoming matches will be a battle to say the least. Many well matched opponents will be squaring off this weekend and looking for a strong start to their September campaigns. Here is a list of the biggest matches of the upcoming weekend.

Rafael Benitez has warned that it is too early to write off Liverpool's Barclays Premier League title chances.
The Liverpool manager believes his side can build on last month's 3-2 victory over Bolton Wanderers by embarking on an unbeaten run in the league. Liverpool lost two of their opening three matches, but Steven Gerrard's late winner secured a 3-2 victory at the Reebok Stadium and Benitez is backing his side to build on that victory.

Cracker of a game at Fratton Park with Gary Megson's side winning it with a last gasp winner from Gary Cahill.

First Half Highlights

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

Hello my dears, I hope you had a lovely weekend. Obviously you could have nothing but as Bolton had their first win in 10 league matches (since April, v. Boro for those of you counting). If you missed the game here are the highlights. Now onto actual analysis instead of me just blabbering on.

So I don't have any news to report I just wanted to share this link with you. It is from the blog Manny Road, which is one of the best Bolton blogs out there, a little humor piece of suggested songs for the Bolton Wanderers playlist. So go on and have a laugh at our crapness (it's the least you can do).

So I actually did get time to do a preview, you lucky ducks! I've used the handy BBC Premiership Predictor, a wonderful piece of web design where you can enter your expected results and see how it affects the table. Perfect for wasting time if you're at work/school and don't actually want to do something (I am a champion procrastinator, in fact I should be doing math homework as I type this).

I absolutely hate to renege upon the oath I made several times vis a vis producing a prompt match report this weekend (especially since I published said oath on the internet for all to see), but currently I am having internet issues. I will hopefully be able to get one done in about six hours, again so sorry!

It's difficult to know where to start on this one. There were some encouraging things in Saturday's match, but the depressing things definitely outweighed them. You can view limited highlights (I use the term loosely) here, I'm trying to find the full ones and I'll update the post when I do.

One of the best chances for the Wanderers was scuffed by Gary Cahill, he headed a cross from Matty Taylor right over the bar.

After such an eventful weekend, it would be easy to lose sight of some of the Premier League's lesser lights but away from the glitz and glamour of the Manchester and London derbies a strange thing happened – all three promoted teams won. Stranger still, it wasn't the first time such an event has happened this season.

You may have read that Tope has signed for one more month, which means he will remain a Robin until October 13, 2009. So far Tope has participated in 7 matches so far and scored twice.

However, the official Swindon Town website no longer states that he is on loan from Bolton and gives Bolton as his 'previous club'.