By Josh Allen

It's the week of the Cheltenham festival, so in order to celebrate, this edition of fantasy football tips will take on a slightly equine nature. Apologies in advance for the inevitably dodgy puns. I'll try and ensure that there's not too much horse play.

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Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has revealed that the Reds' dressing room was a happy place after Alberto Aquilani scored his first goal in the 4-1 defeat of Portsmouth on Monday evening.
The game marked something of a return to form for the Reds after disappointing defeats at Wigan Athletic and Lille in the last week, and Aquilani's team-mates were also delighted that the Italian had at last found the net after a disappointing campaign for him. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt has written off Monday's Premier League horror show at Wigan as a one-off.
The Reds' season sank to a new low on Monday after an abject 45 minutes at the DW Stadium when it seemed the ability to pass the ball to each other had deserted even the most gifted players in the side. Click to continue reading...

Dirk Kuyt remains confident Liverpool will reach the Europa League last eight despite a 1-0 first leg defeat in Lille on Thursday.
The Reds put in a much-improved display in France following the loss at Wigan before falling to a late goal from Eden Hazard.
Kuyt believes he and his teammates can now get the required result when Lille travel to Anfield next Thursday. Click to continue reading...

With the 2009-10 Premier League season entering its final furlong, there are still thousands of managers searching for an all important edge to make their team stand out from the crowd.

Ok, so there may be a select group of fifty that get the most publicity and are supposedly under the most pressure but anyone that's played fantasy football knows that it wont just be Arsene Wenger and co that are faced with crucial selection dilemmas this weekend.

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Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina is the best in the Barclays Premier League, according to manager Rafael Benitez, which is why he is delighted the Spaniard has agreed to a contract extension at Anfield.
The 27-year Spain international has committed to a new deal to ward off interest from a number of Europe's top clubs. Click to continue reading...

The Newcastle goalkeeper, Steve Harper, who turns 35 years old on March 14th, has started every single league game since Shay Given left the club for Manchester City in in January of last year. Harper 160 appearances for Newcastle 19 clean sheets this season That's 50 continuous league games for the Easington born goalkeeper, [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool stars Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Glen Johnson will have a major impact on the club's season when they are fully fit once more, according to former Reds midfielder Jan Molby.
Molby expects Torres and Johnson to be keen to build form and fitness ahead of this summer's World Cup, although he has some doubts as to whether Rafael Benitez will want to disrupt his side's current defensive solidity by reintroducing Johnson at right-back. Click to continue reading...

If everybody was fit, I have no doubts that Harry's first choice defensive pairing would be Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate. However, with Woodgate being sighted as often as Lord Lucan this season and Ledley's knee being as reliable as our penalty takers, Michael Dawson and Sebastian Bassong have played together more than anybody could have expected.

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Major quickie my bredren, I'm not in no fit state to ramble on about the plight of John Terry's big I Am Untouchable shenanigans plus I deffo don't want to pipe up about Ashley I'm Sooo Depressed Cole. It serves you both right. I want to dwell on the re-emergence of Leighton Baines, Warnock, Carlton Cole & Stewart Downing, even if my heads banging after watching the Paddys and Brazilians in a Guinness fuelled haze at the Emirates.

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Liverpool were today given a massive boost after Pepe Reina agreed a new long-term deal – now the club are hoping Javier Mascherano will follow suit.
Rafa Benitez has been desperate to get the future of his influential goalkeeper sorted out and he will be delighted that talks with Reina's advisors have now reached a successful conclusion. Click to continue reading...

In this monthly segment, we attempt to answer the question, "Who should we take to South Africa?" Rather than taking the standard approach (doing our best to guess who Bob will take to South Africa), we focus on who we think Bradley should take.

Another month.

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Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez insists his side is more than well-equipped to deal with everything Blackburn will throw at them.
During a nervous half-hour in Bucharest it seemed the Reds' old defensive frailties had crept back in as Europa League opponents Unirea Urziceni threatened to score from virtually every set-piece. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has called on the side to show "a bit of bottle" when it comes to attacking.
Despite improving what was a poor defensive record by their standards over recent weeks, critics still complain the Reds do not have enough going forward to really hurt sides. Click to continue reading...

Ryan Babel has revealed the heart-to-heart chat with Rafael Benitez he hopes can help salvage his Anfield career.
Babel has endured a hugely disappointing campaign to prompt talk of an exit from Liverpool in the summer, with the player the subject of a £9m bid from Birmingham City last month. Click to continue reading...

After all the hype about the impact Sunday's game would have on fourth place it was no great surprise when it didn't live up to expectations.
It was a poor, poor game and neither team deserved to win.
In fact, it looked as if they'd made some kind of pact not to encroach in each other's half. Click to continue reading...

With the 2-0 win over Arsenal at the weekend, Petr Cech kept his 100th clean sheet for Chelsea in 6 seasons since he signed for Chelsea back in July 2004.
Its been a spell in his career that has seen him win all there is to win in England, Suffer heartache in the Champions League on more than one occasion and suffer what could of been a life threatening injury. Click to continue reading...

It is hardly surprising to see defensive issues topping the list of positives from Liverpool's uninspiring, but still rather useful, goalless draw at Manchester City on Sunday. After all, a game featuring just three shots on target was hardly likely to provoke much talk of attacking verve or creative class. Click to continue reading...

Despite all the build up and hype for the fourth spot battle, City and Liverpool seemed totally uninterested whatsoever and decided to play out another boring draw. That doesn't do any good to our reputation as a boring team. But as is more important at the moment I shall take boring over disgusting and the one point earned at Eastlands will in fact be a welcome relief.

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By AVI CREDITOR
Welcome to the first installment of Fantasy English Premier League on SBI. Granted, we're 27 weeks late, but not too late to help you finish at the top of your table or give you the advice you need to capture your head-to-head league or even the elusive Fantasy Cup.

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By AVI CREDITOR
Welcome to the first installment of Fantasy English Premier League on SBI. Granted, we're 27 weeks late, but not too late to help you finish at the top of your table or give you the advice you need to capture your head-to-head league or even the elusive Fantasy Cup.

Click to continue reading...

It is rare in club soccer in relatively minor leagues to be able to watch the best player that has ever played for your own nation. For the Sounders of Seattle we have that unique privilege. Certainly the best American Keeper in history has retired from international play, but he is still a decent player.

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Job done, match won. Professional but less than clinical Zamora missed after 90 seconds and Davies fluffed an easy chance in the second half but both got goals and both took them well. Davies after 22 minutes, Zamora after 41.

My neighbour complained that we were overelaborate in the second half but once again Duff proved strong, direct and accurate: 3-0 in the 73rd minute.

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The derby win was a heck of a boost for players and fans.
It might not have been pretty out there but who cares? It's nothing new. And I for one loved it!
What mattered was that we never really allowed Everton to get close and threaten, even with 10 men.
So that's 17 points out of 21. Click to continue reading...

Tonight feels like the beginning of the rest of the season. While many were nervously anticipating the United and Chelsea games, matches that brutally exposed our every weakness, Liverpool are a completely different proposition. While their abilities cannot be discounted, especially given their improved form, they have neither the winning mentality of United or a forward who strikes fear into the hearts of our defence as much as Drogba.

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By TRAVIS CLARK

The last time Manchester United took on Aston Villa, Brad Friedel kept a clean sheet, helping Villa to a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

This afternoon, Friedel will be gunning for a repeat performance when Villa plays host to the Reds. Keeping Premier League leading scorer Wayne Rooney at bay will be no easy task, but Friedel will look to add to his 11 clean sheets this season.

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By TRAVIS CLARK

The last time Manchester United took on Aston Villa, Brad Friedel kept a clean sheet, helping Villa to a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

This afternoon, Friedel will be gunning for a repeat performance when Villa plays host to the Reds.

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It appears that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has also been studying the art of the counter-attack.
In preparation for their match away against Arsenal, Benitez talks about the value of being able to get out and counter-attack quickly against teams that commit numbers forward in the attack. Click to continue reading...

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson put an early bug in Mohamed Al Fayed's ear for coinage toward the'10-'11 season. After reading about it and watching his current patchwork team, decimated by injuries, put together two wins and a draw while keeping three clean sheets in a row- in addition to morphing/improving steadily over the course of the last two and a half seasons- I'm thinking, "Does any manager in the Prem have more of a right to some cold cash money than Hodgson?

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Liverpool legend Alan Hansen feels that this week could be the perfect time for Rafa Benitez's side to face Arsenal.
The Reds head to the Emirates on Wednesday having put together a seven-match unbeaten run. They have also kept clean sheets in six of those seven games.
Arsenal, in contrast, has endured a diffcult last few weeks, and has just suffered consecutive defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United. Click to continue reading...

Frustrating stuff. A couple of months ago I was fairly sanguine about points dropped at home, reasoning with sage, Yoda-like calm that as long as we kept playing well the goals and wins would eventually follow. Never folk to take decisive action if we could get away with thrusting our heads into the sand and waiting, we at AANP Towers reasoned that there was no need to panic - the problem would take care of itself.

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photo credit: Anders V

1) Petr Cech- Chelsea

Many critics believe that the star keeper has taken a step backwards over the last year, but Petr Cech still has the most clean sheets of any Premier League keeper and should be on the top of the list by season's end. Cech has had nine different matches in which he did not allow a single goal and the helmet-clad goalie should finish the year strong with Terry managing the defensive unit.

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Jamie Carragher believes normal service has been resumed in Liverpool's defensive ranks - but warned the Reds will face a tough task in keeping Arsenal at bay on Wednesday evening.

Saturday's 1-0 victory over Everton moved Rafael Benitez's side into fourth place in the table and means they have now kept six clean sheets in their last seven Barclays Premier League outings.

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1907 – First top flight London derby, Chelsea vs Arsenal. Chelsea won 2-1.

2010 – Two of the most prolific scoring teams will still ‘battle' it out 103 years later...

With that let's paint the town blue with some stats, shall we?

• ­Didier Drogba has scored 10 goals in his last nine matches against Arsenal.

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Striker Dirk Kuyt's 50th Liverpool goal gave his side a 1-0 victory in a fiery 213th Merseyside derby at Anfield which saw both teams reduced to 10 men.

The Dutchman scored for the fourth time in as many games with a close-range header 10 minutes after half-time.

Liverpool played the last 55 minutes at a numerical disadvantage after Sotirios Kyrgiakos was dismissed for a two-footed challenge on Marouane Fellaini, while Steven Pienaar was shown a second yellow in second-half injury time.

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Nani is hitting top form
Let's preview the Premier League from a fantasy perspective...
I. Arsenal @ Chelsea: We predicted a Big-4 away win last weekend, taking United over Arsenal - and Wayne Rooney and company delivered. Can Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal pull together an away win shocker at Stamford Bridge this weekend? Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benítez insists Liverpool can rediscover the fearsome form they showed in the second half of last season as they bid to see off Tottenham, Manchester City and Aston Villa to claim the coveted fourth Champions League slot.
Benitez's side have enjoyed a run of six Premier League games undefeated since their loss to Portsmouth before Christmas, beating Harry Redknapp's and Martin O'Neill's teams in the process, but confidence at Anfield remains fragile after a disastrous autumn. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has called on his team to improve their attacking form having tightened things up at the back.
The Reds have kept three clean sheets in their last three Premier League games against Bolton, Wolves and Tottenham, but they have been far from free-scoring in front of goal. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3
(And it's worth noting that the '1' was a consolation goal - perhaps we woke up from our lethargy thereafter, but United are far too professional a team to let a three goal lead slip.
If you want to clutch at straws, perhaps you could point out that United were due a win away at us in the League - February 2005, almost five years ago, was when they won away to us last (as long as you discount the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Think they want Marta? Both players Athletica traded, Kia McNeill and Angie Kerr, played significant minutes for the team last year, so this deal has some risk to it. However, they already picked up Lindsay Tarpley, and plugged some holes (in theory) with their draft pics.
Pending the dispersal picks, Althletica have the potential to be really fricking good this year. Click to continue reading...