We've had a week to digest what happened against Manchester United. Plenty has been said and written about last week but now is the time to look forward and focus on Goodison.
Roman Abramovich has been at the training ground this week and it will be interesting to see the level of performance from Chelsea today, to see if his presence has given the players a kick up the arse to refocus their efforts on climbing up the table.

The big news ahead of this evening's game is that Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon are back in contention and with Rafael van der Vaart ruled out, both could play from the start.

"Jermain has trained okay in the last couple of days and Aaron Lennon as well, he's coming back, he's looked sharp," said Harry on Friday.

Barclays Premier League

Saturday 11th February 3pm

Sunderland AFC v Arsenal

Founded in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers AFC, Sunderland joined the Football League in 1890 and went on to win the League the following season.

Right then, after a week which has been dominated by two craggy faced managers (so much so that Fabio Capello was in my post-apocalyptic dream last night wearing a gigantic gold hooped earring), it's time to turn our attention to the stuff that really matters.

Arsenal play Sunderland tomorrow and under Martin O'Neill they've been about 61 times better than they were under Mrs Doubtfire.

Newcastle United defender Mike Williamson is aware that Tottenham Hotspur's terrific form throughout the season indicates their prowess, particularly at White Hart Lane.

Following Monday night's goalless draw at Anfield, third-place Spurs return home and with manager Harry Redknapp cleared of tax evasion charges, the North London outfit will be completely focused on picking up all three points in Saturday's late kick-off.

The United States Under-23's will play Mexico's U-23's in a friendly at FC Dallas Stadium on February 29th. The game will cap a 10-day training camp. "This game is very important for our players and comes at a critical time for us before the start of Olympic qualifying," USA U-23 coach Caleb Porter said.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The United States Under-23 men's national team is going to get a proper tune-up for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, as it will square off against Mexico's Under-23 side in a friendly at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on Feb. 29.

The match will be a culmination of a 10-day training camp in Frisco.

A goal from Sergio Ramos was enough to gave Real Madrid a slender 1-0 win against city rivals Getafe to maintain their seven-point lead over title rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish Liga.

The visitors dominated possession but created few clear-cut opportunities and the match was eventually settled by Ramos's 18th-minute goal, the Spanish international defender meeting Mesut Özil's corner with a flying header that powered into the top right coner.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged his players to get their ailing domestic campaign back on track by recapturing the spirit of their famous invincible side of the 2003-04 season.

On Wednesday, Arsenal played out a 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium and although they finally managed to end their point drought after three consecutive defeats, it wasn't a source of joy for the Gunners as they now find themselves at seventh position on the league table, behind the likes of Newcastle United and Liverpool.

Being forced to sell his captain during the January and consequently losing matches heavily did for Simon Grayson. While OTP feels slightly sorry for the recently sacked Grayson, we won't be dwelling on his departure for too long because there are some exciting prospects in contention to be the new boss at Elland [.

The first two months of the season were awful, the atmosphere was angry, unsettled and going to watch the team wasn't at all pleasant. The atmosphere eased after a good run of results, putting us well back into contention for the Champions League places.

A new year run that has yet to see us win in the league has heralded the return of that atmosphere, a portion of the fanbase have been very forward with their views on the manager and a few of the players an injury crisis has not helped matters either all in all, being an Arsenal fan in the past few weeks has not been the most pleasant of experiences.

Group D at the ACN is at a knife's edge as it heads to the last group match with Ghana, Guinea, and Mali in contention for the two spots to the knock off stage. The only one out is Botswana. Yesterday, the Black Stars got the better of Mali as Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland could have done with his finishing skills today against Boro) scored his first goal and Anthony Ayew added another.

It seems that things are looking a bit brighter for Arsene Wenger with news that a few Arsenal players are back in contention after recovering from injury. Kieran Gibbs is not back yet, but Wenger is very happy to know that Bacary Sagna's return will mean that the Gunners have at least one true full-back [.

This lunchtime, Chelsea travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR in the next round of the FA Cup but somehow I don't think much of the focus leading up to this one won't be on the football!.
I could sit here all day talking about what happened and what is going to happen in a couple of days time but there is a football match to be won so I would rather concentrate on that!

POSSIBLE TEAM V UTDSo its Round Two against the Manchester clubs this Saturdayafternoon.
We face the Old Enemy Utd at Anfield in an early kick-off 12:45pm.
Liverpool have everything to play for and have home advantage in the highest profile game of the FA Cup 4th round.

Jack Wilshere has given Arsenal a massive injury blow after suffering a recurrence of the ankle problem which has kept him out this season.

AW said of the midfielder: "Wilshere has pain again in his ankle. He did it running so we stopped it straight away. He's seeing a specialist today.

I did a check on the respective results of Liverpool under Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson before him from August to January in 2010 for Hodgson and in 2011 for Dalglish.
After our stalemate against Stoke last weekend, I felt it was time to step back and see the improvements in results at Liverpool since Kenny took over from the disasterous days under Roy Hodgson.

Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

As a new season approaches for the New York Red Bulls, it is still very uncertain who will be standing between the goalposts for a team looking to surpass its results from 2011.

According to multiple reports, manager Hans Backe definitively said that German goalkeeper Frank Rost would not be returning to the club, weeks after sporting director Erik Soler said there was a "good possibility" of Rost coming back.

The January transfer window is half way through, and, after the past two windows saw Liverpool one of the most active participants, it's been surprisingly quiet for a side lacking both midfield steel and finishing touch who before the season began set a return to Champions League action as the minimum requirement.

With the MLS Superdraft looming, I was curious about what the people here think the Timbers should do. Not so much about whether they should draft a specific player, but about how the team should approach the draft, and what strategy they should follow when acquiring young American talent.

The Timbers draft eighth in the draft this year, and as many people have noted are looking to make the leap into the playoffs and general Cup contention.

The Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger is more than pleased with the way his team got over their crisis of confidence at the beginning of the season and have fought their way back into contention for the Premier League title. The Gunners are now just nine points behind the leaders at the halfway point of the [.

Although it's fair to say that Arsenal have enjoyed a rather strange season, lurching from one extreme to another, the fact remains that they have somehow managed to get themselves back in contention for a Champions League place, something that seemed like a distant dream after the crushing 8-2 defeat they suffered against Manchester United early in the season.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has again defended Andy Carroll after accusing the media of targeting the most expensive British footballer in history.
Ahead of a reunion with former club Newcastle on Friday, the record-breaking £35million striker has endured a torrid 12 months in 2011 after moving to Anfield last January.

While the demotion of Manchester City and Manchester United from the UEFA Champions League to the second-tier Europa League has been very well documented, the Premier League leaders have company when it comes to failure in Europe this season.

The London pairing of Fulham and Tottenham did not even make the final 32 of Europa League and with Championship outfit Birmingham out of contention as well, Stoke is the only other side representing England in the competition.

From fears of relegation to hopes for a top four finish, and from passive defensive football to pass and move thrills, the 2010-11 season almost ended perfectly for Liverpool after the rockiest of starts. But almost isn't the same as getting there, and the world rarely conspires to provide the ideal, storybook ending that might be hoped for.

Joe Cole has not ruled out a return to Liverpool but is enjoying his time on loan at Lille and feels it would be 'logical' for him to stay with the French club.
Cole joined the Ligue 1 champions on a season-long loan deal over the summer and has caught the eye with a series of impressive performances both in their domestic games and the UEFA Champions League.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been banned for 8 games and fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra and In The Stands' Rolly Pelovangu pulls no punches in debating the FA decision. ‘Negrito'. That is the word allegedly in contention following Luis Suarez's eight game ban after racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during [.

Robert Huth is aware that walking out of Eastlands with a result tomorrow night will be a massive challenge for Stoke City as they visit Premier League leaders Manchester City.

The Potters have won all of their last four league matches while also progressing to the next stage of the Europa League.

Martinez and Dalglish agree – there's more to Liverpool than Suarez

THE FESTIVE fixture list continues for Liverpool tomorrow night at the DW Stadium when Kenny Dalglish's side take on Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic. Kenny has almost a full-strength squad at his disposal but there won't be a return – for now at least – for Steven Gerrard.

Another player that Chelsea fans are confused about at the moment is Josh McEachran. Having asked to go out on loan back in the summer and being told "No" by AVB and that he is in his plans for the season, we are reading reports yet again this morning of a loan deal on the cards in January.

Damn boy... bout time to see him finally make it back stateside. The ex-Hoosier who skipped MLS to go to Holland to develop his game, bounced around and after rumors were floated last year that he might come back (salary differences were the contention point supposedly)he's here. This kid was shaping up to be one of the future forwards of US Soccer, and fell off the map.

Gerrard in contention for Boxing Day return

Liverpool could have skipper back to face Blackburn or four days later at Newcastle

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-19 22:31:23 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Kenny Dalglish has hailed the progress made by his Liverpool side but now hopes to push into the UEFA Champions League places.
The Reds have enjoyed a solid start to the Premier League season but have ground to make up on the top four and will hope to stay in contention by beating Aston Villa on Sunday.

AVB in his comments about Didier Drogba leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January made a point that I believe to be quite interesting. He said:

"Of course, Anelka will not be available anymore but we have Sturridge, Lukaku and Fernando competing for that place when Drogba will be away.

Roberto Mancini has also spoken of Chelsea and the Premier League title race. 10 points behind Manchester City at the moment, Chelsea have it all to do if we want to get ourselves back into contention again. Mancini believes that Chelsea still could win it.
He said:

'Last year Chelsea had a big lead over Manchester United but in the end United won the title by seven or eight points.

Would you believe it!!!

Sometimes in life, you realise there are things you only realise you can't live without once it's gone. For me today, the realisation is one to do with computer. My laptop died on me today and suddenly there's a huge void in my life. Luckily, I've managed to borrow one but I'm sure that's not what you want to read.

Rumours, rumours, every where; nor any drop to drink. Oh, wait, there's some bourbon. Which must mean it's time to dip into the sordid world of transfer rumours to see who's being linked to Liverpool to replace you-know-who, as focus shifts from talk of luxury acquisitions and South American starlets to Liverpool's sudden need for a bit of steel in midfield.

Not so long a go, Ellis Short offered Steve Bruce a four year contract to help quieten the murmurings in the media of Bruce's strong contention for the England management job. This was despite the fact that Bruce had seemingly only had modest achievements in his twelve year managerial career, with the only tangible success's being two promotions from the championship with Birmingham City (sandwiched between relegation).

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 7, 2011) US Soccer Players -- There's a model in Major League Soccer for over achieving and then staying competitive for a few years. You make your splash, then you remain in the conversation. The clubs that have followed this path win their Cup as a low seed, and then use that core group of Cup winners to stay right at the cusp of contention.

John Barnes recently argued that Liverpool fans should 'move on' and stop wasting 'negative energy' on Fernando Torres, but despite the acrimony towards the Spaniard, there are still lots of fans - myself included - who would love to see El Nino back at Anfield. LFC Legends Ray Houghton and Gary Gillespie are not so sure though.