As far as starts to difficult weeks go, that turned out to be half-decent, yeah? After eons of bumbling around in the wilderness every time our rivals slipped up, Arsenal finally took advantage of dropped points around them yesterday by squeezing past Sunderland with very little toothpaste in the tube to spare.

Rio eats grass After the handshake controversy, Manchester United captain Patrice Evra made it his ambition to plant one on Luis Suarez within the first minute of this afternoon's match. But he missed and it was team-mate Rio Ferdinand who felt the brunt of his challenge instead, leading to this spectacular faceplant.

Ah weel fro ze gloves in your general deerecshon OTP isn't quite sure if this response was prompted by the Shaun Derry foul that forced Yohan Cabaye off the pitch during Newcastle's match against QPR, or by the fact that neither the ref, his team-mates, his manager or the physio appeared to believe he was [.

People frequenting this small online settlement will be well-aware that I get jittery as fuck when big games come along. Arsenal have proved themselves to be flaccid and impotent on many occasions in the past; slipping, sliding, making elementary mistakes and prompting the inception of cringe-worthy wordplay jokes, perennially fuelling my jitters in the process.

Another way Aluking at it All football personalities on the Internet are subject to the wrath of online hardmen. Even your humble OTP is subject to the odd death-threat every once in a while. But there's no doubt that the players themselves bear the brunt of this. So the cutting insight provided by Rangers new [.

Here we go. Back to the Premier League after a busy week in Europe. Wayne Rooney is now suspended for only 2 Euro 2012 matches (not 3 as originally set) but Manchester United are out of the Champions League... I. ... Continue reading →

The midweek Carling Cup fixtures are in the rear-view mirror and we're back to basics: The Premier League. Let's jump right in. I. Chelsea @ Newcastle: After 13 league games played, Newcastle are in the top four and Chelsea are not. ... Continue reading →

THFC1882 present a writing debut from Twitters @Brettsayid reporting on yesterday's match:

West Bromwich Albion 1 (Mulumbu 10 ) Tottenham Hotspur 3 ( Adebayor 26 , 90, Defoe 81 )

Line ups : WBA Foster , Reid , Olsson, Mcauley , Shorey , Brunt , Mulumbu , Morrison , Thomas , Gera ( sub , Cox ) Long ( sub , odemwinge )

Spurs Friedel , Walker , Kaboul , King, BAE , Lennon , Sandro (sub, Livermore), Parker , Bale , Adebayor , Defoe .

It's been a great 2-week break for fans from Ireland, Portugal, Croatia, and the Czech Republic but let's get back to club football and our fantasy lineups... I. Liverpool @ Chelsea: Both clubs have Champions League aspirations, and have ... Continue reading →

Newcastle's managing director Derek Llambias has allegedly launched a stunning rant against former managers Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer and said that Andy Carroll was not worth the £35 million that Liverpool paid for him.
A report in the Sunday Mirror claims that Llambias was caught on tape slamming the Newcastle legends to Toon fans in a bar and former Magpies striker Carroll bore the brunt of the foul-mouthed abuse.

After a scoreless first half, the Dynamo opened up the attack with Andre Hainault and Carlo Costly goals as Houston earned 2-0 win over Sporting K.C. at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and a return to the MLS Cup Final for the first time since 2007.

Hainault opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when a corralled a loose ball inside the box and fired it through to give the guests the lead.

12:30pm ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
1-2 West Brom (a) 04.02.11
1-0 Liverpool (h) 08.29.10
2-0 Liverpool (a) 05.17.09
3-0 Liverpool (h) 11.08.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 2-1 Stoke (a); 1-1 Norwich (h); 1-1 United (h)
West Brom: 2-1 Villa (a); 2-0 Wolves (h); 2-2 Sunderland (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 4; Adam, Bellamy, Carroll, Gerrard, Henderson, Skrtel 1
West Brom: Long 3; Odemwingie 2; Brunt, Morrison, Olsson, Scharner 1
Referee: Lee Mason
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Enrique
Henderson Gerrard Lucas Downing
Carroll Suarez
How much of Wednesday's line-up will Liverpool replicate?

1-0 Brunt 8' 2-0 Odemwingie 75' Vuoi conoscere le classifiche, i risultati, le statistiche e le quote scommesse da tutto il calcio mondiale? Visita Calciometria.com DISCLAIMER: Calcioplus non hosta alcun video pubblicato su di esso. Tutti i video pubblicati sono caricati da amanti di calcio su siti di video hosting come Youtube e Dailymotion ed ubicati dunque su siti esterni a Calcioplus.

The end of an international break. Love it. It's like the first day of school. Back to work. Excitement. Anxiety. Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. Fantasy Premier League managers are back from a 2-week layoff, and we're here to help you win ... Continue reading →

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Union

Kerith Gabriel reports at the Daily News that, with Sheanon Williams out with a concussion, "As of now, midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi is slated to fill in at right fullback." Deep breaths, people, deep breaths.

Sporting Kansas City v Philadelphia Union match previews from the Brotherly Game, the Daily Wiz, SB Nation, AP, PhillyBurbs.

Quite bizarrely, a section of the Liverpool support turned on manager Kenny Dalglish both during and after Sunday's 4-0 thumping by Tottenham Hotspur. In what is possibly the most defining ever statement on the fickleness of the modern game, a man who has revitalised from a team heading more towards the bottom half than the Champions League to genuine top four contenders, felt the brunt of the supporters frustration as the goals reined in.

Poor Arsene Wenger has bourne the brunt of disillusioned Arsenal fans the land over and further to that he has also had to endure the biting comments of former Arsenal legends. The latest Gunners legend to slam the Frenchman is Peter Storey. The 65-year-old spent twelve seasons with his boyhood club between 1965 and 1977 [.

The Chicago Fire may be on a three game win streak, but as things stand, the 2011 season has failed to live up to the Fire's high expectations. Frank Klopas must take the brunt of the blame for the Fire's failures to date this season. Now before anyone jumps down my throat I want to point out that as it stands, the Fire are almost certainly not going to make the Playoffs and are playing the U.

I recently got asked in a comment to tell you my team for this seasons Barclays fantasy football. So here it comes, this is my team for Fantasy Premier League.
My goalkeepers are Given for Aston Villa and Al-Habsi from Wigan. I've never really believed in using too much money in goalkeepers in fantasy football, and that hasn't changed this season.

Ian Walton/Getty Images(Bleacher Report)Players often bear the brunt of fan criticism, but managers take their fair share of vitriol as well. There's no discounting the effect a managerial change can have on a club: it can galvanize a sputtering side, instilling a quiet confidence that bodes well for the future.

It isn't sadness I feel as Cesc goes back to Barcelona, for good this time, its the fact that it has come when the club need him. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand his reasons for going but also think that if we had been more successful recently that he would have stayed a couple more years.

At three different points of the year MLS Commissioner Don Garber makes the big time media rounds and talks about the future of Major League Soccer. Tonight's All-Star Game is one of those times. MLS is getting really good, despite all the times they are the brunt of jokes, at getting exposure. This week they've done the traditional morning shows, as well as hosted a series of events throughout Manhattan.

Brian Carroll's time in Philadelphia has proved to be quite a test for the wily MLS veteran. Brought in to give a young, developing team with a player who had won everything and anything in MLS, Carroll has not impressed in his short time with the Union.

Last season the Union had a sort of caravel of midfielders, ranging from MLS journeymen to near retirement South Americans.

The picture of Neil Lennon booting a bottle of water during Celtic's defeat to Inverness spoke volumes.
Which of his underperforming players was he metaphorically kicking up the backside?
Was this Celtic's bottle crashing?
Football teams often play badly. They often choose the worst game to show themselves at their worst.

Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger Johnson
Kuyt Lucas Spearing Meireles
Suarez Carroll
Goals:
Skrtel 51'
Brunt 62' (pen) 89' (pen)
Horrifying. And, of course, it had to align with every possible narrative. A Liverpool defensive collapse, like we saw in almost every match from August through January, leads to Roy's Radical Rampant Revenge.

10am ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
1-0 Liverpool (h) 08.29.10
2-0 Liverpool (a) 05.17.09
3-0 Liverpool (h) 11.08.08
2-0 Liverpool (a) 04.01.06
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 2-0 Sunderland (a); 0-0 Braga (h); 0-1 Braga (a)
West Brom: 2-2 Arsenal (h); 3-1 Brum (a); 1-1 Stoke (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Kuyt 8; Meireles 5; Gerrard 4; Maxi 3; Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Suarez 2; Cole, Skrtel 1
West Brom: Odemwingie 10; Morrison, Mulumbu 4; Scharner, Tchoyi, Thomas 3; Brunt, Fortune, Vela, 2; Dorrans, Jara, Olsson, Pablo, Reid 1
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger Johnson
Kuyt Lucas Spearing Meireles
Suarez Carroll
Hodgson v Liverpool, the revenge match.

Will you, Arsene? I'm not so sure.

That flushing sound you just heard may have been Arsenal's title hopes going down the pipes.

Some of you will remember that I was a guest on the Arsenal Review USA Podcast last week, and was asked how realistic Arsenal's title hopes were. I replied that I had a tough time seeing Arsenal win the title when the "unholy trio" of Almunia, Koscielny, and Squillaci were prominently involved.

Lineups are in:

West Brom: Starters: Carson, Reid, Meite, Olsson, Shorey, Scharner Mulumbu, Brunt, Morrison, Thomas, Odemwingie Bench: Myhill, Cech, Tchoyi, Fortune, Tamas, Cox, Jara

Arsenal: Starters: Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Wilshere, Denilson, Nasri, Ramsey, Arshavin, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Rosicky, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh, Miquel, Bendtner

Rambo starts.

Danny Sturridge is featured in the Independent in one of the most open interviews he has ever given. When you think of Danny Sturridge you immediately think of him being arrogant because of the image he has been portrayed as in the past. Sturridge is keen to make a point that away from football, he wants to remain as grounded as possible.

There have only been a handful of games this season which I thought were going to be easy. The home game against WBA was one of those. Such experience can make one respect a sentence like – there are no easy games in the Premiership – instead of ignoring it as a cliché. So Arsenal travel to the Hawthorns in what is another potential banana skin against a side battling relegation.

"Arsenal's Champions League dreams were in tatters last night after Barcelona ruthlessly tore them apart in a display worthy of the best team in generations. The warning signs were there early on, but when Van Persie's shot was well saved by Valdes you sensed that such chances needed to be taken.

Fernando Torres became the latest victim of Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool renaissance last night after the Spaniard's eagerly awaited debut as a £50m Chelsea player ended in deflation and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of former team-mates.
The striker's first appearance for his new club veered horribly off script as he was snuffed out by the impressive Jamie Carragher and substituted just after the hour.

West Brom have one of the better runs for the next few weeks, including a great home double in week 27 against West Ham and Wolves - there should be at least a few points in it for a Baggie player or two in this gameweek. Over the next 5 weeks, their toughest competition comes from Man City away in week 26, but is bookended with a match against Stoke and Birmingham as well as a match against Wigan in week 25.

The English Premier League Game between Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion featured 22 players from 22 countries at the conclusion of the game, the first time in Premier League history.

Blackburn Rovers used 14 players in total as follows:

Robinson (England)
Salgado (Spain)
Samba (Congo)
Givet (France)
Olsson (Sweden)
Dunn (England)
Jones (USA)
Pedersen (Norway)
Hoilett (Canada)
Kalinic (Croatia)
Santa Cruz (Paraguay)
Nzonzi (France)
Roberts (Wales)
Hanley (Scotland)

West Brom used 14 players as well:

Myhill (USA)
Jara (Chile)
Tamas (Romania)
Olsson (Sweden)
Cech (Slovakia)
Brunt (N.

A sore nose AND an o.g. on the scoresheet The defender in this Japanese High School Football Championship was not taking any chances with his clearance and gave it some welly. Unfortunately, the full brunt of the mammoth hoof was felt by his team-mate stood a metre in front of him. The balls smacks off [.