The rankings at this time of the season don't mean a whole lot and the strange look of this week's rankings sort of explain why. Although many of our old favorites are at are near the top (Chelsea and Inter Milan are topping the rankings), but there are many missing early in the season and many others are ranked lower than that to which they are accustomed.

Just a bit too easy. Talk about a night and day difference in the experiences of the English teams in their Champions League exploits between Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday the going was tough for different reasons. ManYoo was arrogant/overconfident in selecting what looked to be a Carling Cup roster and they paid for it with an ugly nil-nil draw.

As per the new regulations all the clubs have now announced their 25 player squads along with a long list of U-21 players who've been registered so that they are eligible to play in the Premier League just in case. You can see complete details of the squad lists and junior players of all the 20 clubs on the official site.

Our second draw in 4 days. Yet another match in which we were expected to win, although we knew it would be a challenge from the moment the team sheet was released. Upon the completion of the game, the most common reaction to the starting 11 was how much it resembled a Carling Cup side and not one that was challenging for the biggest prize in Europe.

Funny thing, sometimes I really have to think a little bit about what I want to write at the beginning of what usually turns into a really long column and sometimes the events of the week just sort of speak to me. With the remarkable events of the last two days in the Carling Cup, this one just sort of wrote itself as I watched yesterday's events unfold via textcast (here in the States we're

Leeds boss, Simon Grayson, has revealed that ahead of his team's clash against Liverpool last season, Rafael Benitez paid him a visit, but there was only one thing he wanted to talk about.

"I think all managers have huge respect for each other but you're not going to all get along with each other," said Grayson.

This is the first of two consecutive weeks in which we expect the rankings to go through some massive changes. Don't be scared, it happens every year. After the completion of five match days in each league, the previous season's numbers are dropped from the calculations. Recall, last week, we saw the changes happen in Ligue Un.

Before the game I was quite anxious. In the last two seasons we've seen young teams struggle in this competition away from home against top 6 Premier League sides. Thankfully, Arsene had learnt his lesson and he put out a really strong starting eleven. And once I saw the Tiny Totts' starting line-up all the anxiety was turned into anticipation of a big win.

I'm not sure I can do as good a job of analyzing this game as Tony did over at Untold . Still I'd like to give it a shot. It gives me another chance to dwell on a fantastic win. It's difficult to analyze this without the kind of stats that we get for the Premiership or Champions League games. I'll just share my observations from the game.

By Chris Wright

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out for three weeks after, once again, twanging that darn hamstring during the Gunners' Premier League game with Sunderland on Saturday.

Fabregas, who now joins Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner on Arsenal's growing list of crocks, was forced to limp off the field with barely half-an-hour of the game played, having already fortuitously opening the scoring in the 12th minute.

I still remember my first ever live game on the television. It was the game that changed my life forever. The game made me swore my allegiance to a club that is 10,500 kilometres away from where I live. It was in 1991 when I first watched the North London Derby. Although Arsenal ended up as the losing side on that day, I knew they were the team for me.

I still remember my first ever live game on the television. It was the game that changed my life forever. The game made me swore my allegiance to a club that is 10,500 kilometres away from where I live. It was in 1991 when I first watched the North London Derby. Although Arsenal ended up as the losing side on that day, I knew they were the team for me.

The Game The name of the two teams is enough to get all excited as it's always the case when Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur face each other. It may be just the Carling Cup but let's face, ...

Spurs 1 Arsenal 4
If nothing else, Spurs' abject performance yesterday should cement the reputation of the 2007 Carling Cup team. Before, it had often been said that people don't take the Carling Cup seriously. But when a fellow Champions League team is this outplayed when they chuck in a few kids, it shows how well that team did.

Ryan Babel has admitted that he 'failed personally' during Liverpool's humiliating Carling Cup exit to Northampton Town after being dropped from Holland's Euro 2012 squad.
The trying attacker suffered a double heartache on Wednesday as Liverpool crashed out to the League Two outfit on penalties just hours after he found out that Bert van Marwijk omitted him from the Oranje's upcoming qualifiers against Moldova and Sweden.

West Brom are a team that I respect. I'd even say I like them and will support them in their quest to avoid relegation. They are a team that deserves to do well in the Premier League. I feel this way because the Baggies are a team that tries to play football the right way. They fight hard, but not dirty; they try to defend well, exploit set-pieces, shoot from distance – but they don't intentionally foul goalkeepers, or kick opposition players, and their manager is not a scumbag.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was delighted to see the Gunners battle past Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup last Tuesday as he explained how who made the difference on the pitch was midfielder Andrey Arshavin. Speaking ...

Jimmy Armfield has tipped Everton's Seamus Coleman for a bright future in the game.
Killybegs born Coleman has pushed himself into regular first team contention at Goodison Park, scoring his first goal for the Club in the Carling Cup tie at Brentford last week and earning a first Premier League start at Fulham on Saturday.

I'm an ideas man. I came up with the plug-in air freshener when I was 11 years old, only to be thwarted by Glade a few years later (scorn and vengeance). I wondered why engineers ...

Five games from Wembley. When you say that sentence again and again, the more straightforward the task seems.
While its fiercest critics continue to treat the competition with scorn and deride its place in the English football calendar, the Carling Cup provides the most simple, straightforward task for a club to enjoy a red-letter day.

The past weekend has been notable for more than just the international break and the emergence of another high-profile sex scandal. Keen eyes would have noticed domestic football has continued normal service.

This has been most notable at Southampton where the former Premier League team continue to lurch from one crisis to another.

Chelsea have a special player on their hands in Josh McEachran. This kid has plenty of skill and knows how to finish plays in the middle, on the wing or in front of goal.

The London Evening Standard says manager Carlo Ancelotti is a confirmed admirer and handed McEachran, who joined the club as an eight-year-old, a squad number last January (51) and invited him to travel with the first team for last season's Carling Cup tie at Blackburn.

Sir Alex Ferguson made ten changes from Saturday's 3-3 draw away to Everton in hopes what was essentially his Carling Cup squad could see off Scottish champions Rangers last time out. A dour 0-0 draw at home is what played out on Tuesday night to open Champions League group stage play while those ten changes got me thinking about the personnel involved in an at times spirited, yet overall lackluster effort.

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The English Premier League match between Chelsea and Blackpool will take place at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 19th September 2010; kick-off is set for 4:00 PM.

Ives and Goff both do an Americans Abroad every week.

I'm going to provide a slightly different look at it though.

Keepers
Dom Cervi - 0% available minutes, not on bench for Celtic in last two at minimum. ESPN lists him as Don, and hasn't updated his gamelog in nearly a month.

The League Cup is now entering the stage of when the remaining big boys who are flying the flag in Europe enter the fray, and without question the tie of the round is Tottenham vs. Arsenal. Three seasons ago The Gunners visited White Hart Lane and were left humiliated, as they missed out yet again on a cup final appearance by a 5-1 battering.

Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, has already said signing Gallas on a free transfer was an excellent piece of business for Tottenham Hotspur. Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, today conceded that he could understand why Gallas chose to move to Tottenham. Obviously there are logistical issues.

We have 10 Caring Cup third round fixtures kicking off tonight and you know what that means: squad rotation for the big Premier League sides. But for those teams mid-table who believe this is a "meaningful" trophy, we should ... Continue reading →

Normally I like to look at the tactical aspects of a game while writing a preview. In this case, I tried thinking about it but frankly, I've no clue what's going to happen. It's always difficult to predict what Arsene is going to do, and it seems even Twitchy is feeling the pressure of the Champions League so will not start with his first team as he did last year.

T-hee-hee-shirt Notts County striker Lee Hughes was left with egg on his chin as well as marker pen on his t-shirt as his goal celebration stunt backfired. The West Brom legend was given a torrid time by Wolves fans on his first return to Molineux since his heyday with the Baggies. The 34-year-old must have [.

Arsene Wenger is well-known for blooding his youth players in the Carling Cup, and last season even went so far as to say that to win it wouldn't be anything to celebrate, but last nights game at White Hart Lane seemed to indicate a different approach. With Nasri, Wilshere, Koscielny, Rosicky, Denilson and Co in [.

Arsene Wenger is well-known for blooding his youth players in the Carling Cup, and last season even went so far as to say that to win it wouldn't be anything to celebrate, but last nights game at White Hart Lane seemed to indicate a different approach. With Nasri, Wilshere, Koscielny, Rosicky, Denilson and Co in [.

By Ollie Irish

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Arsenal's Henri Lansbury celebrates after scoring his side's first goal of the game

Photos: PA

Perversely, it was Tottenham not Arsenal who fielded something of a second-string XI in the Carling Cup; maybe old Arsene has decided that winning the Carling Cup would be better than winning NOTHING AT ALL for another season.

Arsenal needed until extra-time to dispose of Tottenham 4-1, while Owen Coyle's Bolton suffered a shock defeat to Burnley in Carling Cup action on Tuesday night. League One hosts Brentford also caused a major upset as they held struggling Everton to a 1-1 stalemate in regular time before dumping the Toffees out 4-3 on penalties.

Northampton and Scunthorpe will have their sights set on causing Carling Cup upsets when they meet Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively, in the third round.

We're here with a little lesson today: read the rules or just plain pay attention to the details. Having watched the regular 90 minutes and the game "over" at 1-1, I shut off the stream thinking there would be a replay. I was very confused roughly ten minutes later when Arsenal had scored not one but two goals in what I thought to be imaginary extra time.

From the sounds of things, you'd have thought we'd just been relegated. The anger emanating across the Tottenham community last night and spilling over into this morning was palpable. A 4-1 defeat to our bitterest rivals, a generally limp display and a White Hart Lane crowd forced into an early exit.

From the sounds of things, you'd have thought we'd just been relegated. The anger emanating across the Tottenham community last night and spilling over into this morning was palpable. A 4-1 defeat to our bitterest rivals, a generally limp display and a White Hart Lane crowd forced into an early exit.

Chris Hughton was obviously delighted with his side's magnificent victory last night at Stamford Bridge as they pumped 4 goals past the Premier League Champions to get to the 4th round of the Carling Cup. Chris Hughton we just beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge The first goal by Nile Ranger was the first goal [.

Liverpool, one of the biggest football clubs in Europe and one of the most fearsome in the English Premiership, lost a Carling Cup encounter with lowly Northampton on Wednesday night. Liverpool did rest a plethora of players (Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher) but they still chose a starting eleven including a South American player of the year, a Dutch prodigy, the best Greek defender, the best Danish defender and one of the stars of the Spanish national youth teams.