In October 1995, Roy Hodgson took over as manager of Inter Milan. Almost 15 years later, Rafa Benitez - Hodgson's predecessor at Liverpool - left Anfield to manager Inter. Benitez that has been in charge at Inter for 22 games now: how do his first 22 games stack up against Hodgson's first 22 games in the 1995-96 season?

You've played enough Gael, give us the ball

The final group game for the Champions League happens tonight and surprisingly enough for Arsenal, this is not a dead rubber game for us. Recent seasons have seen us qualifying to the next group stage with a minimum of a game to spare. Having blitzed through our first 3 games, the position that we are in right now seemed miles away.

Four of the top five battle it out with each other this week while Man City travel to bottom of the table West Ham. Arsenal could end gameweek 17 in fourth position, having started it Top of the table. Chances are it will be as you were. It has been such an unpredictable season that this has to be the weekend where the top five match each other and pick up a point a piece.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a bit tired of hearing about the same old players, coming back from the same old injury, and making their same old comeback. What about the others? The other players who work tirelessly day-after-day, delivering performance after performance, I don't see any tabloid paper giving them their dues.

The Zygo Soccer Report has learned that American Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella is on trial with União Desportiva de Leiria of Portugal's Primeira Liga.
Attinella, a native of Florida, most recently played for the University of South Florida Bulls where, in 2009, he was named a first-team NSCAA All-American, a first-team All-Big East member, and the Big East Goalkeeper of the Year.

Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Untold Arsenal on Facebook here By Walter Broeckx Keeping clean sheets. How to do it. If Wenger knew how to do it, I think he would do it immediately. So this is just an attempt from my part to see if we could find some pattern in our clean sheets and [...]

Let me start by saying this write up of Saturday's game would've been the same had we managed to win 1-0. As I stood there in the freezing cold, watching what can only be described as the ultimate long ball game with the odd pass and move thrown in for good measure, all the below thoughts were being formulated prior to their equaliser and the final whistle.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina is not the first Reds' goalie to record 100 shutouts with the team, but he did it in the fastest amount of time.
Reina earned the century mark after blanking Aston Villa in Liverpool's 3-0 victory on Monday. It was his 198th game with the Reds, surpassing the record set by Ray Clemence, who reached the feat in 217 outings.

Morning all, more snow here in Dublin and today we get a draconian budget on top of that too. It's like someone giving you a spunk flavoured phlegmshake to go with your poo sandwich. Extremely tired of it all now.

Anyway, at least there's Arsenal to keep me relatively sane and the man of the moment is Samir Nasri.

MANCHESTER, England – Anderson's second-half equaliser ensured Manchester United will avoid their main rivals in the last 16 of the Champions League after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Valencia at Old Trafford on Wednesday. United needed to avoid defeat to seal top spot in Group C but were left shocked when Pablo Hernandez fired the [.

Liverpool are back on track after another great win at Anfield. Performances are definitely improving overall but how is Roy Hodgson doing in the league compared to Rafa Benitez's first 16 games in 2004-5? Also, how do this season's results compare to results in the same games last season?
BENITEZ vs.

Schalke Celebrate A First Place Finish In Their Champions League Group.

With top spot on the line for Schalke, a win was imperative in Portugal against a Benfica side who have looked far from their best in the Champions League. Elsewhere, Werder Bremen were playing for pride in front of their home fans against last year's European champions, Inter.

After taking a look at offensive production, I thought it was time to see where things stand in the Premiership with regard to teams' defensive capabilities. Here are three pieces of simple, but I think informative information (as of Nov.28).
First, very basically, there's the average number of goals teams have allowed per match this season.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy knows his side's fans need a boost in the midst of a relegation battle, and he has his hopes pinned on a derby day victory to put smiles on their faces.
The Molineux outfit are second bottom of the Premier League and on a run of ten defeats in their last 13 matches.

Manchester United

Position: 2nd, 8-7-0 (31 points, +19 goal differential)

Home Form: 7-1-0 (+18 goal differential)

Recent Form: WDDWW

Last Meeting: Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3 (January 31, 2010)

Well, tomorrow is a huge, huge match that needs no build-up.

I am not really privy to such information but I believe that Queen's Don't Stop Me Now was a bit of a favourite with Hearts fans as they celebrated winning the Scottish Cup in 2006.
They must be feeling something similar now with Jim Jefferies' side on a five match winning streak. That includes a derby win and a win over Celtic.

One of the key aspects of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United side has been their ability to grind out results when it matters.

Those following the latest scores last night will know that they weren't at their best again against Arsenal, but they did just enough to grab the win and go two points clear at the top of the Premier League.

It's the question of the moment, isn't it? Manuel Almunia came into the season as our # 1 keeper, then, depending on what you believe, either got injured or got benched. Lukasz Fabianski came in and has performed very admirably, making a number of top-class saves that have kept us in some big games.

The side with the best record in all of Europe has not lost in 23 matches in all competitions,winning 20 of those. They are the only side in Europe yet to lose in any competition this season. They have kept clean sheets in over 2/3 of their league fixtures, are 8 points clear at the top of the table after just 13 fixtures, and have a goal differential more than twice as good as their nearest competitor.

Amid all the talk of new recruits in the January transfer window there is one department everyone accepts is in safe hands.
In Pepe Reina Liverpool boast a model of consistency who will make his 200th league appearance for the club against Fulham tonight.
Having stepped aside to allow deputy Brad Jones to play in front of Australia coach Holger Osieck against Utrecht on Wednesday night, Reina will return to action in search of a fourth successive home league clean sheet.

Jose Reina is well aware that the festive period in the Premier League is a make-or-break period in Liverpool's 'realistic' quest for a place in the top four.
The Reds are preparing to welcome Fulham to Anfield on Saturday evening ahead of what looks to be a key series of fixtures in an inconsistent season.

The winter chill continues, games tumbling by the wayside like Scotland's co-efficient points. Only two matches set to survive in the SPL. Thankfully one of them is the game of the day.
Hearts v InvernessScottish football's irresistible force meets our immovable object. Or something. Hearts have won six out of six.

Florent Malouda has also been quoted today about Chelsea's form, possibly in the same interview I quoted earlier from him speaking of Frank Lampard and John Terry's return to the side, and in this article he has had a pop at our defence. Along with Didier Drogba, he is the second person to have a dig at the defence and maybe it will fire us up to get back to being solid at the back starting at Arsenal.

Having their game against Manchester United postponed last week, can actually be considered a loss for the Blues as they are still unable to fix their current poor run in the Premier League which pretty much still gives makes Chelsea players wonders about the reasons behind their poor results.