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Spurs 2-0 Sunderland: Keane’s Contract & Darren Bent’s Twitter Revenge

All Action, No Plot 08 November @ 10:55 AM EST

A curious one, this. Back in the days of yore, when Luka Modric limped off against Birmingham, I don't think anyone foresaw things panning out quite this way. Robbie Keane undroppable, wingers treated like lepers, long-ball upon long-ball. We're muddling through, but the sooner both the Croatian genius and Lennon return, the better.

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Arsenal Still Interested in Sunderland Captain

Premiership Talk Blog 23 October @ 11:21 AM EST

Arsene Wenger has his sights set on Sunderland captain Lorik Cana as he aims to bring some bite to Arsenal's lightweight midfield. Reports from the Sunderland Echo suggest that Arsenal will do their best to sign the Albanian midfielder when the transfer window opens.

Cana is a new signing at the Stadium of Light having joined the Black Cats over the summer.

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Report Card: Ballon d’Or Nominations

Premiership Talk Blog 19 October @ 09:36 AM EST

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?

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Ibra Burns the Bridge Back to San Siro

Premiership Talk Blog 13 October @ 11:15 AM EST

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has become the latest Barcelona star to egotistically pronounce the treble winning club's's dominance over their global rivals. Following Sweden's bitter loss to Denmark this weekend, where the spotlight was stolen away from him thanks to Nicklas Bendtner's scintillating performance for the Danes, Ibrahimovic has taken his frustrations out on former club Inter Milan.

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Non-Stop Drama Raises Italian Stock

Premiership Talk Blog 12 October @ 11:44 PM EST

Beyond the nation's borders, Italian football has certainly faded into the background in recent years. A devastating match-fixing scandal in 2006 bitterly overshadowed the country's World Cup triumph that year while the domestic league has clearly become a one-horse race ever since. Reigning champions Inter Milan have shown no signs of a slip up in the Serie A for the last three seasons and that trend continued with their strong start to the current season as well.

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The Wednesday Wonder: Two Black Cats

Premiership Talk Blog 07 October @ 03:35 PM EST

Patience is a virtue, and for two of the Premier League's best players, that patience has finally paid off. The crazy thing about it all? These two players are on the same team! And the lucky team is Sunderland.

It was just last season that Sunderland were in the heat of the relegation battle.

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Quarter 1 Report Card: New Club Managers

Premiership Talk Blog 05 October @ 12:09 PM EST

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.

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Shameless Barca Continue Cesc Pursuit

Premiership Talk Blog 01 October @ 12:22 PM EST

Barcelona may be the treble winners last season. In addition, they may also be the side with arguably the most potent attack in Europe, comprising of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thierry Henry, Bojan Krkic, and FIFA World Player of the Year hopeful Lionel Messi. On top of that, they also possess one of the most powerful midfield combinations in the continent in the form of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

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Double Trouble: Ones to Watch

Premiership Talk Blog 28 September @ 05:33 PM EST

Given the title of this article, I could be about to tell you about how the strike duo of Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones will be leading Sunderland to new heights in the Premier League this season, but we will save that for a later date. I'd rather make a bold statement and talk about the bottom of the table at the moment.

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This Weekend’s Winners and Losers

Premiership Talk Blog 28 September @ 09:08 AM EST

With yet another exciting Premier League weekend in the books it's time to review this weekend's winners and losers.

Winners Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane emerges from this weekend as the biggest winner. The Tottenham striker has had a relatively quiet start to the season, oftentimes playing second fiddle to the red hot Jermain Defoe.

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Woodgate – Fate’s Bitter Victim

Premiership Talk Blog 23 September @ 11:21 AM EST

Rewind back to 2003 and you'll see that Jonathan Woodgate had everything. From critical acclaim to a huge fan following, he had all the essentials required to go down in the Newcastle folklore as one of the very best defenders of all time. However, the only obstacle that could stop him injuries came into play very early into his career at St.

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van Nistelrooy Makes a Ruud Return

Premiership Talk Blog 21 September @ 12:03 PM EST

Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy returned after a long spell on the sidelines to provide an assist and score another in his side's emphatic 5-0 victory over La Liga minnows Xerez. While the focus of the game initially remained on another former Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo who scored twice to make it six goals in his four appearances it was his Dutch teammate who eventually created most of the headlines.

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Will Burnley’s Home Record Survive Sunderland?

Premiership Talk Blog 18 September @ 06:38 PM EST

After experiencing a promising start in the top flight by defeating the current Premiership champions, Burnley's form went crashing down with two heavy road defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Liverpool, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. Now, they have to defend their perfect record at home against Sunderland, who come pumped and ready after thrashing Hull City 4-1 at home.

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Will Burnley’s Home Record Survive Sunderland?

Premiership Talk Blog 18 September @ 11:54 AM EST

After experiencing a promising start in the top flight by defeating the current Premiership champions, Burnley's form went crashing down with two heavy road defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Liverpool, 3-0 and 4-0 respectively. Now, they have to defend their perfect record at home against Sunderland, who come pumped and ready after thrashing Hull City 4-1 at home.

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Long Road Ahead for the Cottagers

Premiership Talk Blog 17 September @ 12:22 PM EST

There is absolutely no doubt that Fulham's gritty displays of late are deserving of their newfound reputation as the people's club in the Premier League. The masses can relate to their mid-sized squad and down-to-earth players while tourists from all over the world simply cannot resist the amazing atmosphere at the conveniently located Craven Cottage.

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Burley Earns His Second Chance

Premiership Talk Blog 16 September @ 09:23 AM EST

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.

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Jose Mourinho: Arrogant or Intelligent?

Premiership Talk Blog 16 September @ 01:37 AM EST

Jose Mourinho has continued his special ways as he announced his Inter Milan starting eleven an entire day before his side's crucial Champions League fixture against Barcelona. The former Chelsea manager was never afraid to pull this stunt during his time in the Premier League, and his latest display raises the question: is the special one arrogant or intelligent?

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Justice Prevails in Eduardo Saga

Premiership Talk Blog 15 September @ 08:13 AM EST

Arsenal striker Eduardo, who has recently been a frequent victim of jeering from rival fans around the nation, has finally been vindicated over a diving accusation that marred his reputation of a sincere and hardworking striker. The Croatia international, who was banned for an attempt to deceive the officials by going down without any contact during Arsenal's Champions League clash against Celtic last month, was exempted from blame on the grounds of a lack of clear evidence.

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Big Signings Start With a Bang

Premiership Talk Blog 15 September @ 08:11 AM EST

While Emmanuel Adebayor's infamous lack of sportsmanship this past weekend has overshadowed Manchester City's emphatic 4-2 victory over his former club Arsenal, it is impossible to overlook the strong impact he has made at the Eastlands already.

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Emmanuel Adebayor: A Huge Disgrace

Premiership Talk Blog 12 September @ 01:37 PM EST

This weekend's headlines were stolen by Emmauel Adebayor even before a ball was kicked. Saturday morning, Adebayor finally lashed out at his former club Arsenal, moments before the Gunners kicked-off a challenging visit to the Eastlands.

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North London Takes on Manchester

Premiership Talk Blog 11 September @ 12:26 AM EST

For Premier League fans around the world, the last couple of weeks have been almost too painful to endure as something very important seems to have disappeared out of our lives. But with yet another international period finally in the books, we can once again look forward to the return of our most beloved brand of football this weekend.

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Baros, Sverkos Launch Czech Revival

Premiership Talk Blog 09 September @ 11:37 PM EST

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.

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Skipper Terry: The Difference Maker?

Premiership Talk Blog 07 September @ 09:43 AM EST

Some moments are never meant to be forgotten. The entire world of football witnessed one such shocking moment a little less than two years ago in London. On a rainy evening at Wembley, hosts England were expected to advance to the finals of Euro 2008 with just a draw needed against visiting Croatia.

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Thursday Throwdown: A to Z

Premiership Talk Blog 03 September @ 12:38 AM EST

Another week of Premiership action is now in the books, and Thursday means one thing: it's time for the Thursday Throwdown from A to Z. Here we go...

AÂ is for Anelka. Chelsea fans should be counting their lucky stars that both Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba are in spectacular form.

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Transfer Madness at Fratton Park

Premiership Talk Blog 02 September @ 07:11 AM EST

If you are Paul Hart - by far the bookies' favorite to become the first sacked manager in the Premier League this season - you would need a miracle to save Portsmouth from relegation at this point. Four games into the new season, Pompey are yet to scrap up a single point, which is a clear indicator of how the team roster was in desperate need of major bolstering on the final day of transfers.

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Consistency - The Missing Element!

Premiership Talk Blog 31 August @ 06:06 AM EST

Officiating in modern day football has already received its fair share of flak. Of course, whenever a certain team is at the receiving end of harsh refereeing decisions, its passionate fans jump at the opportunity to hit back at the match officials with great force. In this article, however, I will not go ahead with the oft-repeated idea of accusing the referees of lacking the ability to call big games without the heavily proposed use of technology.

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City Triumph Over Treble-Winning Barca

Premiership Talk Blog 20 August @ 12:11 AM EST

European champions Barcelona ended their dominant pre-season with a frustrating 1-0 defeat at the hands of a defiant Manchester City side in front of around 90,000 fans at Catalonia's huge Camp Nou Stadium. While I will stay consistent with one of my previous articles by conceding that pre-season results carry little materiality, tonight's game should go a long way in demonstrating just how foolish it is to write off Mark Hughes' flamboyant, new-look Sky Blues.

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Darren Bent: A Man in Form

Premiership Talk Blog 18 August @ 11:22 PM EST

As Chelsea strolled out of Sunderland on Tuesday night, most of Sunderland's players headed home with their heads down and their tails between their legs. One man, though, is enjoying a phenomenal start to life at a new club. That man is none other than Darren Bent.

In the first half Darren Bent gave the Black Cats a 1-0 lead over Chelsea.

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Dropping Carra - A Big Mistake

Premiership Talk Blog 15 August @ 08:15 PM EST

Stability. Composure. Quality. These are just a few adjectives that England's defense certainly doesn't deserve based on the Three Lions' 2-2 draw against Holland in their most recent international fixture. However, only the aforementioned adjectives can do justice to one defender that England's system failed to recognize.

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Pre-Season: How Important?

Premiership Talk Blog 31 July @ 08:35 AM EST

The pre-season is in full flow and the build up to the new season is getting more exciting by the day. Therefore, let's take pre-season preparation as a variable to preview this upcoming season in football rather than discussing the oft-repeated, boring variable known as the transfer market.

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Young Americans Denied Harshly

Premiership Talk Blog 27 July @ 03:26 PM EST

A capacity crowd of more than 78,000 was in attendance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup final on Sunday. At the full time whistle, Giants Stadium appeared to be a sight of gross injustice more than anything else. After resiliently fighting with their third-string side for the entire tournament, the Americans finally fell to their bitter regional rivals, Mexico, albeit very harshly.

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The Professor Needs to Step it Up

Premiership Talk Blog 10 July @ 09:59 AM EST

There have been many occasions in recent years where the genius of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been brought into question. After all, the trophy cabinet has been empty for four years and everyone, from skipper Cesc Fabregas to that little child in the upper tier at the Emirates, is becoming increasingly restless with the club's underachievements.

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Last Roll of The Dice for Cruel Hand Luke

Premiership Talk Blog 06 July @ 08:14 AM EST

On the 20th of June 2006 in Cologne, Germany, I was sat high behind the goal in the RheinEnergieStadion (then called simply 'The FIFA World Cup Stadium') when in the fourth minute, a figure crumpled to the ground. It was hard to see who it was from my unique vantage point, but the man sitting to my left immediately turned round and said 'any money it's Owen'.

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Beckham Saga is not a One-Way Fiasco

Premiership Talk Blog 06 July @ 08:04 AM EST

Despite a composed 1-0 win for the LA Galaxy at home to the New England Revolution this weekend, soccer fans around the world (or at least in the US) are still in shock over the rift between two Galaxy stars who missed this weekend's game. While superstar David Beckham is yet to return to the Galaxy this season, his estranged teammate Landon Donovan was rested following a busy period representing his country.

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Can the USA Pull off a Miracle?

Premiership Talk Blog 17 June @ 07:08 AM EST

Cinderella stories happen everyday, everywhere in this world. In particular, when it comes to the world of football, we have seen quite a few of them. After all, who would have thought that Senegal would knock France out of the World Cup in 2002? Or who would have picked Greece to win it all in the European Cup of 2004?

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