Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has backed tomorrow's opponents Arsenal to silence their critics, making it clear that the Gunners have sufficient talent to prevail at the Stadium of Light.

Arsene Wenger's men are three points adrift of fourth-place Chelsea and have relied heavily on the incredible form of skipper Robin van Persie, who scored a brilliant hat-trick in last weekend's 7-1 rout of Blackburn.

Wesley Sneijder has been linked with Manchester United in the past few days, and not for the first time. The Dutchman has continuously been linked with Manchester United for the best part of two seasons but each time the move was apparently close to completion something cropped up an prevented it from being finalized.

By The Numbers: Who should take over from Fabio Capello? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Following Fabio Capello's resignation as England manager, Castrol EDGE Performance data shows why Harry Redknapp is firm favourite to take over the reins. Since the previous European Championships in 2008, Redknapp has secured an impressive win ratio of 49% with Portsmouth and Tottenham, guiding Spurs to their most successful season in the Premier League and securing European football for the past two seasons.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 7 (Seven)-1 Blackburn Rovers Premier League 4th February 2012

After a sustained period of dismal performances and almost no points, Arsenal needed to rediscover their mojo on Saturday if they were to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish.

Match Report Video By the numbers

I know for many people the word they might use to sum up this Arsenal season would be stronger, much stronger, than 'frustrating', but that's what seems to fit for me this morning.

On Tuesday night Chelsea, our main rivals for 4th spot, dropped two points against Swansea.

After a long barren spell in the premier league, Dirk Kuyt finally scored his 50th league goal for Liverpool last night. The Dutchman has been in and out of the team this season, but he's delivered at a time when the club really needed it, and he's confident that Liverpool can now push on and secure a coveted champions league place.

Goals:
Carroll 52'
Bellamy 61'
Kuyt 78'
The result implies dominance, and Liverpool were fairly dominant throughout, but 3-0 did not look likely at half-time.
Sure, had Liverpool taken one of their multiple first half chances, most notably from Kuyt in the third minute, or had Anthony Taylor given Adam an absolutely dead certain penalty in the 35th, the side might have strolled to victory sooner.

Right colour, wrong shirtIt's a Chile afternoon in Toronto! Great news for TFC supporters and pun-lovers alike as The Reds officially announced the signing of Chilean international defender Miguel Aceval today. The announcement concludes a signing-process that has been rumoured since December but spent the last few days floating around MLS red-tape limbo.

Dirk Kuyt scored two minutes from time to knock United out of the FA Cup and send Liverpool through to the first round for the first time since 2008. A makeshift United side was two minutes away from forcing a replay when the Dutchman pounced on Andy Carroll's flick and made the most of some [...]

By Alan Duffy

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Newcastle United FA Cup 29th January 2012

Oh how Newcastle boss Alan Pardew must be counting down the hours 'til his double dose of Dembas, Ba and Papiss Cisse, return to the north-east of England.

All Arsenal fans know that Arsene Wenger is in need of a top class striker to act as cover for Robin Van Persie (or even as a replacement if the Dutchman leaves at the end of the season). So with that in mind, the Metro reports this morning that Arsenal are interested in signing the [...]

By Chris Wright

It's not often you find yourself left in the unenviable position of having to sympathise with Mark van Bommel, but during AC Milan's 3-1 Coppa Italia victory over Lazio last night one such instance occurred.

With Lazio 2-1 down and defending a late corner, Brazilian centre-back Dias took an almighty swing at Van Bommel's temples and caught the Milan midfielder with a cowardly blow to the side of the head that left him sprawled on the turf for a couple of minutes.

By Chris Wright

It's not often you find yourself left in the unenviable position of having to sympathise with Mark van Bommel, but during AC Milan's 3-1 Coppa Italia victory over Lazio last night one such instance occurred.

With Lazio 2-1 down and defending a late corner, Brazilian centre-back Dias took an almighty swing at Van Bommel's temples and caught the Milan midfielder with a cowardly blow to the side of the head that left him sprawled on the turf for a couple of minutes.

By Alan Duffy

Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City (Aggregate 3-2) Carling Cup Semi-final 25th January 2012

Liverpool came from behind twice against Manchester City at Anfield to secure a place in the final of the Carling Cup, and their first appearance at Wembley in 16 years.

Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt has spent lots of time on the substitutes bench this season, and given the fact he hasn't scored a league goal in eight months now, it is, perhaps, easy to understand why. Having said that, Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson doesn't believe that continually benching the Dutchman is the best solution.

Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt has spent lots of time on the substitutes bench this season, and given the fact he hasn't scored a league goal in eight months now, it is, perhaps, easy to understand why. Having said that, Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson doesn't believe that continually benching the Dutchman is the best solution.

By Chris Wright

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Remember on Sunday afternoon? Against Manchester United? When Robin van Persie mouthed the words 'oh no' as Arsenal's most enterprising attacking threat was substituted off for Andrey Arshavin? Apparently that was a thing.

Rumour doing the rounds that this is the new Arsenal away kit for next season. Hope not. Clearly the Nike designers have given a nod to the blackcurrent kit we wore for a season at Highbury a few years back.

I prefer good old yellow and blue but these days kits are all about revenue and this could be our new away top, with the stripes used for marketing purposes and to allow a shirt to double up as a leisure top.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has publicly slammed Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin following Sunday's match at the Emirates.

Neville, now in his role as a Sky Sports pundit, was critical of Arsene Wenger's decision to sub the effervescent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, especially as the struggling Arshavin replaced him.

According to the laws of the game, shouldn't Robin Van Persie have been sent off against Manchester United in Arsenal's 2-1 loss on Sunday? I know when it comes to yellow and red cards it's often pretty hard to keep track of all of football's strange rules. But it's widely believed that an automatic yellow card is to be shown to any player who lifts his team shirt to reveal a printed message on a tee-shirt below.

The Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie was yet again the goalscorer for the Gunners yesterday, but for the FIFTH time this season the Dutchman has scored but Arsenal have gone on to lose the game. Arsenal have now lost three games in a row and Van Persie has been the one player that has held [...]

Manchester United and Liverpool target Ricky van Wolfswinkel is a wanted man – with Lazio ready to make a £13million bid for the Sporting Lisbon star this month.
United and Liverpool are keen on the striker but were expected to wait until the summer to make bids.
But they could yet be forced into action this month as Lazio are ready to enter the race to sign the highly-rated Dutchman.

A cheeky chappie It was only a week ago that Arsenal and Wolves fans were loving the sight of Emmanuel Frimpong cutting down Rafael van der Vaart to size by smashing the ball into the Dutchman's face. Football karma, it appears, does not take long to act. Yesterday, in defending a corner against Aston Villa, [.

Super Sunday is one again upon us with a couple of high profile fixtures worth watching. Manchester United travel to London to face Arsenal in the return fixture of the match they won 8-2 at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

The other big fixture of the day sees league leaders Manchester City host 3rd place Tottenham at the Etihad stadium in a day that could see their lead atop the EPL table extended or cut.

The Arsenal winger Theo Walcott is, like Robin Van Persie, approaching the final year of his contract this summer. Although all Arsenal fans are anxious that the Dutchman signs an extension to stay at the Emirates, there is not the same sort of urgency regarding Walcott. The Englishman started the season in excellent form but [.

Arsenal relying on van Persie and midfield strength to beat Manchester United - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

In August Manchester United and Wayne Rooney inflicted a resounding 8-2 defeat on Arsenal, with Rooney netting a hat-trick. However, since then it is Robin van Persie who has lit up the Premier League.

By Richard Nash

Tottenham's victory over Everton last week left them level on points with Manchester United and three points off league leaders Man City, confirming their position as genuine title rivals to the Manchester clubs. Much has been made of the additions of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor as a reason for the club's success, but the biggest change since last season has been the use of their wingers, Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon.

Pato's passion no longer on the pitch.

Atop the tallest spire of Milan's cathedral sits a statue of the virgin Mary, her gaze fixed upon a Po valley split between the supporters of two giants in Italian football: A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. When these teams meet twice a year at the San Siro, the winning players symbolically join la Madonnina at the city's highest point.

It's a fortress, but there's just too many draws...Liverpool were held to another draw at Anfield yesterday as they struggled to get anything past Tony Pulis's Stoke side. The Potters played in their stereotypical way and whilst they would have been extremely happy with the point Liverpool were left frustrated.

It's Milan Derby weekend and if you're all like "Snoozefest time!"... STEP ASIDE, per favore! It's not about the derby but rather the culture surrounding it. All the Uncle Giovannis who are preparing their premium Neapolitan pasta sauces at this very moment will only serve it at 8pm tomorrow because that's how the Italianos roll!

Arsenal skipper Robin van Persie believes that club legend Thierry Henry's decision to join his beloved club for a second time shows how brave he is.

The Frenchman recently put pen to paper on a short term loan deal with the Gunners and scored the winner in the 1-0 FA Cup defeat of Leeds United on his second debut at the Emirates.

Once again the team news focuses on Scott Parker and there is a chance that our England international midfielder could be fit to face Wolves tomorrow.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Harry Redknapp said,

"We're hoping he's going to be okay, but it was great to see Jake Livermore come in and play like he did against Everton.

What an incredibly frustrating week not to be able to blog. Henry's return in the cup against Leeds, a dour affair until he emerged from the bench, was settled by three sublime touches a delicious through ball from Song, an immaculate piece of control, and a trademark cool finish to take the man to 227 goals for Arsenal and send thousands of Gooners into a mad bouncing frenzy.

There's a report that Newcastle United are keeping tabs on three of their Dutch targets on the continent. Siem de Jong 22 year-old older brother of Luuk The three are attacking midfielder Siem de Jong and strikers Luuk de Jong and Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and of those three Dutchman, the only one we haven't [.

Luc Castaignos looks set to leave Inter on loan this month and Liverpool have leapt in front of Bologna in the race to sign him.
The talented young forward joined over the summer from Feyenoord, but with one Serie A goal and relatively few appearances this season he is expected to go out on loan.

Jermain Defoe will be hoping that his recent performances have earned him a place in Tottenham's starting XI tonight and if he does take to the pitch against Everton, the striker will hope that Spurs can be more ruthless in finishing off their opponents tonight.

In cementing third place and opening up a five point gap over Chelsea, it's hard to say that the club has been stuttering but fans would hope to see recent 1-0 wins turned into more comfortable victories and that will be down to the strikers in the main.

The big news to come out of White Hart Lane this week surrounds Scott Parker who remains extremely doubtful for tonight's clash. Speaking yesterday at his press conference, manager Harry Redknapp said,

"Scott is struggling," said Harry. "He's doubtful, in fact, he's very doubtful.

"We've one or two injuries.

There are certainly a good selection of Arsenal transfer rumours around this morning, but I'm not sure how many of them are even close to being likely! There is no doubt that Arsenal need a proper backup striker for Robin Van Persie, especially with the possibility that the Dutchman could be leaving next summer.

There are certainly a good selection of Arsenal transfer rumours around this morning, but I'm not sure how many of them are even close to being likely! There is no doubt that Arsenal need a proper backup striker for Robin Van Persie, especially with the possibility that the Dutchman could be leaving next summer.

It's January, as you might've noticed; and if you hadn't I would suggest those New Year's resolutions about not drinking anything that really ought to be kept on a shelf in the shed aren't going all that well. For the rest of you, you know the score. It's the beginning of the year and that can mean only one thing: the always-good-for-a-laugh-don't-believe-everything-you hear-better-off-not-opening-any-tabloid-newspapers-or-football-websites-for-a-month-pick-any-name-out-of-a-hat.