'sorry? (...) yeah shut the **** up.'

That wasn't really what I was expecting to be honest. Despite notable absences from the Sunderland side, and to a certain extent a lack of bite in our midfield today's game was one that we won't be forgetting for a while. It's safe to say that it was somewhat of an aggressive affair with both sides putting boots where perhaps they shouldn't have been and this incision found its way into the general scheme of play.

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Liverpool defender Daniel Agger is taking heart from the Reds' positive performance against Olympique Lyonnais this week, despite the disappointing result – a 1-1 draw placed the Merseysiders' hopes of progress in the Champions League in severe doubt.
"You get what you deserve in football and you have to look at closing the game down otherwise you get punished in the way we did in Lyon," he told the club's official website.

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Without a doubt, Sunday's game between Chelsea and Manchester United is the biggest of the season between the two clubs who have the best chance to win the Premier League title this season (sorry Arsenal fans). So, it's no wonder that so much importance is being placed on this game. Not that who wins will decide anything, but it will be a massive psychological boost for the winning team and will show which club has what it takes to win the title.

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In partnership with Russian Football Now, EPL Talk presents the twelfth episode of RNF's podcast.

Russian football may have gotten off to a shaky start in the 2009-10 Champions League, but the last two weeks have seen a measure of redemption. On Tuesday, CSKA Moskva came within minutes of a historic win at Old Trafford, while Rubin continued to their improved form by taking a fourth point in two matches from Barcelona.

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Tonight Rafa Benitez is on the managerial tightrope when his side faces Lyon in the Champions League. Liverpool have to win, if Fiorentina and Lyon win then Liverpool can say goodbye to major silverware this season and Benitez can probably say goodbye to his job.

Benitez's side is decimated by injuries and an awful lot of responsibility is on the shoulders of Fernando Torres tonight if he plays.

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It's probably not news to you that Juve and Italy's Gigi Buffon is quite good at the old goalkeeping. But just in case there was any doubt, take a look at his save vs Maccabi Haifa in Champions League Group A yesterday. First the close-range block, then the elastic lean backwards to palm it away from [. Click to continue reading...

The city of Liverpool claims it would receive a £200 million (US$330 million) boost if it is a host city for the 2018 World Cup, should England win the rights to host the tournament.
The city is arguably the biggest heartland of English soccer, with both Liverpool and Everton having secured multiple trophies over the years. Click to continue reading...

Apparently our players have great manners... according to a cabin crew's revealing stories in The Times today.

We often get football teams flying to European games, and it's always interesting to see how they behave. Without doubt the rudest was Spurs. They were going to Prague a couple of years ago, and they were all very impolite.

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There's little doubt that Ashley's decision to take the Newcastle club off the market last week was very unpopular for Newcastle fans, to say the very least. Chris Hughton hopes Newcastle fans will remain united But Chris Hughton, now in one of the most difficult management jobs in football, whether he likes that or not, or [. Click to continue reading...

Paul Scholes is happy enough with being second in the table but hopes that sooner rather than later we can go top. Whilst most players would be content with just the three points, Scholes wants to see us win with style and become more fluent than we've been in most of our games so far.

"Without a doubt there's more to come," Scholes said.

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There is little doubt that playing soccer directly affects one's heath. The amount of physical activity and the emphasis on proper diet found in competitive soccer clearly reduces the risk and incidence of health-related problems such as childhood obesity. It also seems that the benefits of youth sports carry over to adulthood. Click to continue reading...

See, I told you I'm a bit good

Let's face it. We all remember Julio Baptista once played for Arsenal on a season long loan from Real Madrid. Jose Antonio Reyes went the other way in the same deal. I don't know about you but for the life of me, I can't remember much of his performance during that season bar for one.

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Perhaps trying to dampen some of the criticism aimed at him - particularly in the wake of Sunday's drawagainst Fulham, Mark Hughes has offered support for big money signing Joleon Lescott:

"You have to understand, though, that this is a new back four and the more games Joleon and Kolo [Touré] play together the better they will gel as a pair.

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A couple of enforced moves anyway for Mark Hughes tomorrow evening:

"Kolo is not fit, and neither is Martin, while there is a doubt over Wayne and he may well not be involved. Kolo and Martin should hopefully be alright for the weekend, but they are not quite right at the moment.

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There's little doubt that Chris Hughton and Newcastle desperately needed a win against Doncaster on Saturday. Chris Hughton had some luck at last The usually stoic Hughton went crazy with emotion at the end as Kevin Nolan slotted home a dramatic winner for the Magpies on 92 minutes. Chris admitted his team had [. Click to continue reading...

Its a game that's as big as it gets for Liverpool afternoon.Yes its our hated enemy, Man Utd at Anfield in a game which will define our season.Win and we are right back in contention for the league.Lose and our season is over, its that big a match.
With six defeats already this season, four in the Premiership, things have not been going well at Liverpool, to say the least. Click to continue reading...

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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Although Wayne Rooney remains a doubt, Manchester United are ready to face Liverpool on Sunday at Anfield. Patrice Evra and Ryan Giggs will return to Sir Alex Ferguson's squad after recovering from...
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The Injury Files: Friday October 23Not too many explicit updates of note...The big guys - Gerrard, Nando, Johnson, Rooney, and Fletcher - from the big game are still all facing the dreaded "late fitness tests". Given the match-up and the doubt, that rules all of them out of my line-up for this weekend. Click to continue reading...

So that was never in doubt right? At least not after the Crew started thugging in July. But the Crew now owns two out of the three fewest point totals required to win the shield. If they become the first team to win back-to-back doubles (Shield and MLS Cup), all will be forgiven.
How amazing is it that it took the Chicago Fire until last night to clinch a playoff spot, much less the number 2 seed in the east? Click to continue reading...

There is mixed injury news for Man United ahead of the massive clash between United and Liverpool this Sunday at Anfield.
Wayne Rooney
Rooney may have taken part in training today but there is still a possibility that he could miss Sunday's game, a decision will be made tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

Its that time of the year, the season is nearly complete and the league has handed out it's ballots for voting for their season awards. Yes today I received an email with a link to my online ballot for voting this year. I have to admit I wasn't expecting it to come this week but since the season ends this weekend it makes sense.

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See below for match highlights followed by Arsene Wenger's post-match interview.

Tuesday's match with AZ Alkmaar was full of deja vu on so many levels. Arsenal created a similar amount of chances to most of their other matches this season. Also, our inability to take our chances and kill the game off with the second goal was reminiscent of last season.

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Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Ngog
Goals:
Benayoun 41'
Gonalons 72'
Delgado 90+1'
And you thought Saturday was a low. Ha. It got worse. It can always get worse.
In addition to Torres, Johnson, and Riera, it seems Gerrard should have been ruled out as well. Click to continue reading...

Isn't it just typical, you book yourself a little holiday only to find yourself home one week before the Arsenal head to Alkmaar which is just up the road from where you were and you miss what is for most a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and that is seeing Arsenal in an away Champions League match. Click to continue reading...

Michael Carrick will almost certainly start on Wednesday night as we take on CSKA Moscow in the Luzhniki Stadium. Several players have been ruled out as unavailable but Carrick will be making the trip to the stadium where we won the European Cup in 2008.

Carrick says that was the best day of his career but is still haunted by what happened in Rome a year later.

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So far this season, Ryan Giggs has been Man United's most impressive player so far. The bad news is that there is a good chance he will be missing for United's game against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League this Wednesday.
Giggs picked up a minor injury in United's 2-1 win over Bolton at the weekend. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says that left-back Gael Clichy and midfielder Abou Diaby are still slightly in doubt for Saturday's clash with Birmingham City.
The pair picked up ankle injuries on international duty for France and have not yet been passed fit to play.
"Clichy got a little knock on his ankle and Diaby was kept out of the French squad last night because of an ankle problem as well. Click to continue reading...

Russell Brand was without doubt created to scare the life out of Americans A narcissistic former smackhead Essex boy, with a rude Victorian English mouth, whose hair has its own persona, passport and facebook page. He is without doubt the UK's Mr Marmite..you either love him or hate him. So someone told me to check out Mr [. Click to continue reading...

There's little doubt that Alan Smith is reveling in his role as anchor man for the Newcastle side this season, as he keeps Nicky Butt out of the side. Alan Smith reveling in midfield role for the Magpies Chjris Hughton is delighted at captain Smith's form this season and he talked today about the player, who [. Click to continue reading...

It looks like Argentine Fabricio Coloccini is still an injury doubt for our game at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Fabricio Coloccini - still doubtful for Saturday Although Coloccini had a difficult time of it last season in the Premier League he's looked a lot better this season in the second division of English football and [. Click to continue reading...

Courtesy of the Guardian... I have little doubt that this will end up in one of Ives' caption-that-photo posts, so I'll just do a preemptive strike and get it out there a bit early to give you a head start (should you be the type to participate... Click to continue reading...

The hamstring injury which ruled him out of Argentina's games during the current international break appears to be serious enough to cast doubt over his participation next Sunday at Wigan:

"He's been with the Argentinian FA who have checked him out, as after the game last Monday he said that he had felt something with the last kick of the game.

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It all depends on your point of view, either as a partisan or a neutral observer, but there are a couple of scenarios that would settle everything in the Hexagonal or leave everything in doubt until Wednesday night. We are practically down to four teams that will finish within any of the top four positions. Click to continue reading...

It may just be another vicious rumour doing the rounds, however there are a lot or murmurings that a handful of Premiership teams are interested in signing Carlos Puyol from Barcelona.

Although Puyol is the captain and his commitment can never be denied when he pulls on a Barcelona shirt, there have been rumours for t a while that the Barcelona management would rather leave the player out of the team because he doesn't necessarily fit within the team.

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