Ireland's largest bookmaker Paddy Power have today launched a new advertising campaign targeting overseas visitors as they arrive into the country through the nations largest airport. The tongue-in-cheek campaign which will run over the next two weeks sees the bookmaker take over the baggage hall in the Arrivals area of Dublin Airport through the strategic [.

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Fulham started off their 2009/10 campaign in winning fashion as they brushed aside a Portsmouth team still in turmoil.

Lady luck shone on Roy Hodgson's side as a Clint Dempsey's shot took a heavy deflection off Bobby Zamora and went straight into the back of the net in the 13th minute. A goal that even Hodgson himself admitted was ‘fortuitous' proved to be the perfect start for a rejuvenated Fulham who are aiming to better their 9th place finish last season.

There is no denying that Liverpool F.C. is the form team in the Barclays Premier League at the moment. Rafa's Reds have defied all odds to overcome a frustrating start to the campaign and surprisingly, the Steven Gerrard - Fernando Torres pairing isn't exclusively responsible for leading the revival.

With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

Champions League action dominates the news, but sending offs in Argentina, a new shirt for Manchester United and more fan violence all make this week's Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Good Podolski scores It was good again for English clubs in the Champions League as all four representatives go through to the quarter finals, but perhaps that's [.

With the commencement of the UEFA Champions League group stages this midweek, an important piece of news was relegated to the back of most reporting outlets. Perhaps another reason behind the lack of coverage for the story in question was the refusal, on part of most football lovers, to recollect any part of the uninspiring internationals break.

The first defeat of the season is always the most tricky one to deal with. Perhaps that explains why some feel that the earlier it comes, the better. At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, a determined young Arsenal squad made a typically flying start to the campaign.

The title to this article might suggest that I am providing some late coverage on Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner's recent car accident while driving to practice in his Aston Martin. In reality, though, this article is written in vehement defense of the player, who has certainly had more than his fair share of critics, to put it bluntly.

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Barcelona in the Bernabeu and back from the brink, Birmingham bounce back and bad boy Barton all feature on this week's good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster's football podcast. Click on the links below to find out more on all of these stories.

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This is a David vs. Goliath battle, but then again, we all know who came up on top in that one.

Manchester United have been handed a fairly easy fixture to kick-start their Premier League campaign, and should ease their way to the three points.

However, even a draw at Old Trafford will result in a few raised eyebrows pointing towards Real Madrid and Manchester City – the two clubs that drained two superstars from Sir Alex Ferguson's side Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when it comes to sports, I'm a numbers guy. I love statistics! It could be as simple as how many points Manchester United is away from winning their fourth Premier League title in a row (that number should be three points lower after Wednesday, but Burnley really messed with that stat) or as complex as what Everton's home record is when Yakubu scores with his right foot opposed to his left.

. On paper this one looked like a no-brainer and in reality it was certainly no different. One club is riding high after an impressive start to the Premier League campaign and a crucial victory in the Champions League; the other is struggling after selling a contingent of their best players and [.

Seldom has a talented football nation witnessed the kind of humiliation that the Czech Republic has suffered in the entire last year. In a World Cup qualification campaign where they were placed in perhaps the most competitive of groups alongside Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, and Northern Ireland, perfection was almost always essential for the Czechs.

With the first quarter of football almost over in most leagues around Europe, now is a good time to measure the current progress of some of the giant clubs on the continent. Actually, analyzing the success or failure of clubs in general won't be nearly as exciting as identifying a more specific object of analysis.

On this week's show we focus on the World Cup qualifying matches that took place in Europe over the past few days. In addition we: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English for Football And continue the predictions battle in the Predictions competition For learners of English check [.

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Boring Champions League semis, the race for La Liga title, injuries, empty stadiums, and a big name biting the dust all feature on this week's good, the bad and the ugly section of languagecaster's football podcast.

They Think It's All Over... has written a guest blog at Soccer Fan Base, which is a retrospective look at the major issues of this season and an analysis of what that says about the state of the beautiful game in today's world.

They Think It's All Over... encourages our readers to get behind the 'Respect the Fans' Campaign.