Above average finishing ability, Average rat-tail, Below average fitness history
The Premier League is back, and while the World Cup is still top of mind (especially for those Irish and French fans), the greatest league in the world is back from a two week hiatus. Let's get to it:
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The tragic death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke has given us all some much-needed perspective. As much as top professional players are glorified, they are still people like you and me.

Enke threw himself infront of a train on Tuesday night, after suffering from depression since 2002.

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The death of Hannover 96 and Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke at the age of just thirty-two would have been a savage shock to anybody interested in international football regardless of the circumstances. The fact that his death is being widely reported as suicide is numbing. Our thoughts obviously are with his family and his friends at this time, and it would not be appropriate at this time comment much further on the specifics of what has happened this evening.

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by CARL ELDRIDGE There is plenty of fall-out from the weekend's Premier League games and the highlight has to be Darren Fletcher's ludicrous, laughable and lamentable claim that Arsene Wenger's comments after our game with them at Old Trafford has caused him grief with refs ever since.

The Daily Mail reports that Wenger accused United of playing ‘anti-football' after Arsenal's 2-1 defeat in August.

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The issue regarding former Arsenal club captain William Gallas has completely gone now according to his replacement Cesc Fabregas.Last season, the French defender questioned the character of his teammates among other things and was stripped of his captaincy privileges by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger. Click to continue reading...

Club captain Cesc Fabregas notched a brace as a dominant Arsenal all but ensured qualification to the Champions League Round of 16 with a resounding 4-1 victory over Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night. Cesc score in the 26th and 53rd minutes in the most straightforward of wins. A fit-again Samir Nasri (minute 43)and Abou [. Click to continue reading...

Newcastle club captain has spoken at length this morning and says the Newcastle dressing room was extremely pleased to hear that Hughton had been appointed full time manager at Newcastle last week . Nicky Butt pleased with Hughton appointment Butt said today: "It is definitely a big relief for everyone in the dressing room to have Chris [. Click to continue reading...

With Liverpool preparing to play Fulham at Craven Cottage in a matter of hours, injury problems continue to plague the the Anfield club. Captain and perennial talisman Steven Gerrard will not play due to his nagging groin injury, while fullback Glen Johnson will miss action because of a thigh strain.

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Merely three days after their Carling Cup elimination against Arsenal in North London, Rafa's Reds are back in London for another tough challenge. Following their 2-0 dominance of Manchester United last weekend, the critics were not completely silenced. After all, the Reds still face the challenge of proving their consistency, particularly after their failure to overcome an Arsenal side made up of fringe players.

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Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
English Premier League
Emirates
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Kick-off: 1245 GMT

With both sides residing in the top-four for much of the early season, one of the country's oldest and fiercest derbies takes on added significance as Tottenham make the short trip down the Seven Sisters Road to face familiar foes Arsenal.

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Club captain Nicky Butt will return to the Newcastle United team for Saturday's game with Doncaster Rovers. Nicky Butt will play on Saturday Nicky missed the midweek defeat at Scunthorpe because of illness, but it would have been a surprise had he started that game. The 34-year-old midfielder had to withdraw from the squad having felt sick [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said his side must win their remaining three group games if the five-time European champions are to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
A 2-1 home defeat by Olympique Lyon on Tuesday left Liverpool third in Group E after three games, six points behind leaders Lyon and three behind second-placed Fiorentina. Click to continue reading...

Wenger interested in Black Cats captain.

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Arsene Wenger has not given up hope of signing Lorik Cana, despite the Albanian midfielder moving to Sunderland this summer.

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Any hopes of getting Fernando Torres back for the critical clash against Lyon at Anfield were dashed earlier this morning, after it was announced that Torres would not feature in the mid-week Champions League clash. Fernando Torres has been ruled out of Liverpool's Champions League group match against Lyon on Tuesday. Click to continue reading...

It didn't take long for the bottom club Hertha to appoint a new coach after parting company with Lucien Favre only days after Week 7. Friedhelm Funkel had had a distinguished spell at Frankfurt up until last season. However, he was let go in the summer in the hope that a new manager will be able to inject some new zest in the side. Click to continue reading...

There were once a bunch of douchebags who were openly laughing at Puyolita at a dingy pub we went to. One our amigas couldn't help it so she yelled : "He's a Spanish and European champion. Are you?!!!!" We left early that night.

Anyway, Goldilocks is so important to the club that Xavi wants him to put pen to paper now and renew his contract!

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Last Friday, Chelsea Football Club received FIFA's written rationale behind its recent decision to impose a two-window transfer ban on the London club. With the football world now fixated on the issue of tapping-up youngsters, you would've thought that Chelsea would be keeping a low profile when it comes to young recruits.

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The sight of Ledley King pulling up when Didier Drogba was running towards the Tottenham goal in Sunday's London derby left me with a resigned feeling of deja vu. Even on one leg, a training regime of swimming twice a week and the frailties of the midfield formation that wasn't working, King was keeping Drogba quiet.

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After writing an article in response to City's 'worry' about us singing the racist Adebayor song, I got an e-mail from a fella called Jack who is behind the City blog, The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll. If my track record for receiving e-mails from City fans was anything to go by, I was fully expected a hate-filled rant, calling me a Munich bastard and ending with the hope I died in a plane crashed.

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WHEN FP heard there was going to to be a pre-match press conference between the two owners of Perth Glory and Gold Coast United – Tony 'James Bond' Sage and Clive Palmer respectively - he thought their would be some fireworks.
When you have two men who are unafraid to speak their minds, and aren't dimwits in drumming up publicity, surely there would be some good copy flying around. Click to continue reading...

It has been nearly two weeks since we saw our beloved Arsenal in action because of the International break, but when the team returns they will have to play in what will be the most important game of the season so far. After the unfortunate loss to Manchester United at old Trafford, this will be a real test for the team to show their response.

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Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has proclaimed that he will prove his worth to the club with stellar performances once he is fully fit.
The former Roma player is currently recovering from a surgery on his ankle.
"I know Liverpool have spent millions on signing me but I'm here to prove I'm worth it," Aquilani told the club's official website. Click to continue reading...

Images via somoche.com

Let us state that after a thorough hasty photographic inspection, we are thoroughly convinced 75% of the Valencia roster were manufactured in a dilapidated warehouse tucked far away in The Land of Hobbits. Oh, and just as these miniature men were placed on the Chiseled, Rock Hard Thigh assembly line, the machine combusted.

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Chelsea defender Ashley Cole has put pen to paper a new four year deal, following in the footsteps of club captain and fellow defender John Terry, who inked a new five year deal on Monday. Cole, who joined Chelsea from London rivals Arsenal in 2006, said that Chelsea were becoming more of a "family", and that [. Click to continue reading...

A player who was at one time ill-disciplined.
Yet leaves as club captain and a thoroughly respected figure.
Destroyed by Thierry Henry time and again.
Yet he was more than a match for Didier Drogba.
Arrived after being unwanted by Everton.
Leaves having made 351 appearances and a cert for the team of the decade. Click to continue reading...

As expected, confirmation that Richard Dunne has signed for Aston Villa:

CITY today said farewell to one of the club's most resolute and enduring defenders in Republic of Ireland star Richard Dunne, who has signed for Aston Villa.

The player's departure, confirmed this lunchtime after the Football Association checked the paperwork, signals the end of an era and Richard goes to the Midlands with the best wishes and gratitude of everyone at Manchester City.

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With plenty of talk about players Liverpool wanted and couldn't afford to sign this summer, it seems strange to me that our squad wasn't bolstered with some proven, experienced players on free transfers. As I will outline, there were quite a few players available who could've provided much needed competition in the squad. Click to continue reading...

Jlloyd Samuel could be in line to make his first Premier League start of the season for Bolton as Gary Megson's side host Liverpool.
Samuel was preferred to new signing Paul Robinson for Tuesday's Carling Cup win at Tranmere and could be set to keep his place in the side. Andy O'Brien is also in contention after recovering from a groin strain. Click to continue reading...

Let's preview this weekend of Premier League action, as we do every Thursday. We look at (I) best match for a neutral (II) most fantasy friendly match (III) studs and duds and (IV) a prediction of a weekly best eleven lineup.
I. Arsenal @ Manchester United: The Gunners are confident of a win at Old Trafford after scoring 15 goals in their first 4 games, but may be without club captain Cesc Fabregas. Click to continue reading...

Certainly the Guardian suggests so:

Aston Villa have agreed a fee with Manchester City for Richard Dunne, believed to be about £6m...the Villa manager has identified Dunne as a replacement for Martin Laursen, who retired at the end of last season, and is likely to offer the 29-year-old the captaincy at the Midlands club when he discusses personal terms.

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Result

A very commanding result for Arsenal, that puts us into a strong advantage. Not many English clubs go to Celtic and get a result but we did with a top class performance all round. Here are some key players that I thought stood out.

Defence

Defence was solid; everything was cleared and dealt in an appropriate manner.

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Robbie Fowler got off the mark on his A-League debut last weekend, although his North Queensland Fury fell to a 3-2 home defeat against Sydney FC. Fowler, formerly of Liverpool and made club captain, converted a penalty after an hour to level the scores at 2-2. However, former Portsmouth man John Aloisi scored a winner [. Click to continue reading...

Graham Alexander is Burnley's captain, is £4.5m, and best of all is likely to line up in front of his stated position. Alexander is listed in the game as a defender but he's really Burnley's defensive midfielder. While he likely won't be earning clean sheet points every week, every little bit helps. Click to continue reading...

Before i begin my update i would like to offer my deepest sympathies to the family, friends and team-mates of Espanyol club captain Daniel Jarque who died after he suffered a heart attack following a training session yesterday. My thoughts are with them at this sad time.
Moving onto the title of this update only a couple of weeks ago hardly any Real Sociedad supporters would have heard of Antoine Griezmann since he was in the youth set up and yet to even make the step up to Sanse however with 4 goals in 2 pre-season friendlies he is the talk of San Sebastian. Click to continue reading...

The football world was saddened to hear of Sir Bobby Robson's death last week. The former England manager was 77 and universally regarded as the gentleman of English football. One of his former clubs, Newcastle United start off their Championship campaign without a manager and have been described as a joke by their club captain.

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