The winning goal for the Taranga Lions was all Gervinho in the 44th minute. The Arsenal winger robbed the ball well behind the half line, and then turned on the burners to blow past the Malian defense down the left channel, cutting in for a superb finish.

Arsenal cannot wait to have him back.

The amazing Chipolopolos scored the winning goal in the 77th minute as substitute Emmanuel Mayuka found space and on the turn curled a right footed shot past Adam Kwarsey in goal. It was probably the second chance for the Zambians and very much against the run of play.

The Black Stars should have gone ahead early as Asamoah Gyan missed out on a golden chance when his penalty was stopped by Kennedy Mweene (bringing back painful memories of his World Cup PK miss against Uruguay).

szólj hozzá: Arsenal Blackburn 7:1 HIGHLIGH

In which RVP scores a sublime hat trick. In which the Ox is unleashed. In which Song continues to find his passing groove. In which Thierry Henry scores his first Premiership goal on his return. In which Theo Walcott made the right choices. In which Frances Coquelin showed why the flanks are so important.

Chelsea v Manchester United: A Battle Of Widths - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

According to Castrol EDGE Performance analysis, both Manchester United and Chelsea's wingers have been key to both club's positive play this season, with Antonio Valencia, Nani, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge all enjoying impressive campaigns.

Given that Sam Allardyce supposedly had the hex over us while he was in charge at Bolton, it was interesting to find out that we've actually won 9 out of our last ten games against Bolton in the league. Until today, our last failure to beat Bolton was the rather galling 2-1 defeat last year, when Nasri choked, and we failed to defend our set-pieces.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted that Japanese starlet Ryo Miyaichi could be set for a domestic loan spell as the youngster seeks more playing time to further his development.

The emergence of 18-year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has provided Wenger with more-than-enough options on the wings, which means that the 19-year old Miyaichi will need to look elsewhere to increase his football activity.

The Ox in the box will be quick as a fox to knock of Villa's socks

Jack Wilshere was set for a return mid February setting the medical world abuzz with his miraculous return. Then he suffered a stress fracture in the same ankle during training and now the story is he's lost for the rest of the season or at least a good portion of it.

John Nyen sees parallels

The two managers sit across from each other, both hooked up to the machine. The humming and whirring increases as they are instructed by the lab technician in the white coat.

"Think of your ideal, of what you want your team to become.

Not the debut we hoped for

A 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United with each side coming on top in one half is not the worst of results. However, the manner in which we lost the game, left a bitter taste in the mouth. After what happened in the reverse fixture early in August, many Arsenal fans (including me) wanted to exact revenge but also conscious of the fact that we want to avoid another thrashing.

szólj hozzá: Arsenal v Man United 1:2 MOTD

It was the 74th minute when Arsene Wenger went from mere arrogance to sheer incompetence. Replacing Alex Oxlade Chamberlain with Andrey Arshavin. The Ox had been Arsenal's best player on the pitch providing the side with desperately needed speed, ambition, and some quality skills.

Surprised? No. Disappointed? Of course.

Watching that match was painful, and I'm sure most of you caught the match. I will describe the match in laconic detail, in order to spare us the pain:

First Half: We were dire. Really, really dire. We couldn't get out of own half for most of the half, as United, who weren't so hot themselves, probed for an opener.

By Alan Duffy

Sunderland 2-0 Swansea City Premier League 21 January 2012

Despite dominating for large periods of the game, Swansea's lack of a cutting edge would cost them dear against a Sunderland side who to continue to flourish under Martin O'Neill.

12:30pm ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
3-1 Liverpool (h) 08.27.11
2-1 Liverpool (h) 01.01.11
1-0 Liverpool (a) 10.31.10
2-0 Liverpool (h) 01.30.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-0 Stoke (h); 1-0 City (a); 5-1 Oldham (h)
Bolton: 2-0 Macclesfield (h); 0-3 United (a); 2-2 Macclesfield (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 5; Bellamy 4; Adam, Carroll, Gerrard, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Henderson, Johnson 1
Bolton: Klasnic 7; Eagles 3; K Davies, Ngog, Reo-Coker 2; Boyata, M Davies, Muamba, Petrov, Ricketts 1
Referee: Kevin Friend
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Henderson Gerrard
Downing Shelvey Maxi
Carroll
The same questions and concerns continue to be the focus.

Arsene Wenger might consider his namesake Andrew Wenger in his search for a full back. Wenger, a Duke University standout shows why he is the top pick in this year's MLS SuperDraft. He is listed as a defender/forward and you can see why. He has impressive ball skills, attacks down the flanks with speed, and finishes impressively.

Frustration is boiling over at the Emirates- an underperforming squad has started 2012 in a well documented poor fashion.

Sadly the return of the King Thierry Henry has been tarnished by some mindless fans at Swansea on Sunday aggravating the Frenchman.

The Gunners have now lost two league games on the bounce and languish well behind their title rivals and crucially are four points behind Chelsea in forth.

I exaggerate to make a point, of course, but the game yesterday seemed to sum up 'bad Fulham' under Martin Jol. When we get it right, we're excellent. When we don't we're extremely frustrating. This is shown in the second diagram, illustrating our habit of trying to walk the ball through massed defences (who have funneled us accordingly, knowing that we can't hurt them wide).

A real 3 pointer today, what with Spurs and Liverpool dropping points at home.

We all know that Swansea are a very difficult side to beat at the Liberty Stadium, in fact only MU have won there this season. The Swans have conceded just 4 goals at home (compared to AFC's 6) and have drawn half their home games (5/10) Spurs gained a very squeaky point a couple of weeks ago and Swansea will go into the game full of confidence.

Oh dear.

Yakubu sent off in the first half, Samba missing. What more could we ask for?

Made a right horlicks of this one. Blackburn are a half-decent side in the middle of a horrible season but we're good enough to win in these circumstances. Should have done, comfortably.

Blackburn scored the first with a Pedersen free-kick just on half-time, then the second from Dunn just after the break.

10am ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
2-1 Liverpool (a; Carling Cup) 10.26.11
0-1 Stoke (a) 09.10.11
2-0 Liverpool (h) 02.02.11
0-2 Stoke (a) 11.13.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-0 City (a); 5-1 Oldham (h); 0-3 City (a)
Stoke: 3-1 Gillingham (a); 2-1 Blackburn (a); 2-2 Wigan (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 5; Bellamy 4; Adam, Carroll, Gerrard, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Henderson, Johnson 1
Stoke: Crouch 6; Walters 5; Delap, Ethrington 2; Huth, Jerome, Jones, Shawcross, Shotton, Whelan 1
Referee: Howard Webb
Strangely enough, this will be the first time Liverpool have had Webb this season.

THFC1882 presents another guest writer. This time it's a guy I've known on Twitter for a while and he's always got something to say on our beloved Tottenham Hotspur. It gives me great pleasure to present Kenny Palmer with a preview of this weekend's game:

Wednesday's victory over Everton in the postponed game in hand from the start of the season has left Spurs level on points with Manchester United and 3 off leaders Manchester City.

Suarez begins his 8 match ban...Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.

Liverpool Lose 3-0 At Etihad

Suarez begins his 8 match ban... Manchester City put three goals past Liverpool on Tuesday night despite the away side retaining a lot of possession. A goalkeeping mishap and a dubious penalty helped City on their way but despite this, Liverpool still couldn't find a goal to put the pressure on Mancini's side.

By Richard Nash

After starting the season with their customary 4-3-3 formation, Wigan have now lined up in a 3-4-3 system ever since their 3-3 draw with Blackburn on November 19th. Roberto Martinez trialled the system in a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on October 1st, but then reverted back to his familiar 4-3-3 for their following game against Bolton.

It has often been the case this season that Tottenham have had to leave out the likes of Sandro and Jermain Defoe, simply because we have had eleven players performing at an impressive and consistent level. With both Emanuel Adebayor and Rafael Van der Vaart in great goal scoring form, Defoe has repeatedly had to rely on injuries to come into the team.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-3 Aston Villa Premier League 31st December 2011

Coming only days after he was chastised by manager Alex McLeish for being photographed with a hookah pipe and drink in hand, Stephen Ireland rediscovered his best midfield form to inspire the Villans to a superb and surpirsing victory at Stamford Bridge.

Recent games have dealt with the notion of ‘Arry as a tactical buffoon in no uncertain manner. In days gone by the signing of VDV, the plan to loan Bale to Nottingham Forest and the instruction to Pav to "go out there and f***ing run about" did little for our glorious leader's reputation as tactical genius, and was grist to the mill of a whole army or interweb critics (mea culpa) who lambasted him for doing little more than closing his eyes, pinning a tail on a donkey and accepting the plaudits as his blind gamble paid off.

'Andy Carroll will come good but Kenny Dalglish must sort out his tactics first' Newcastle legend Malcolm Macdonald backs Liverpool striker

Geordie goalscoring hero believes starlet has what it takes to win over Anfield sceptics but only when service from the flanks to to the England international improves

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-30 08:15:00 from: Goal

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

'Andy Carroll will come good but Kenny Dalglish must sort out his tactics first' Newcastle legend Malcolm Macdonald backs Liverpool striker

Geordie goalscoring hero believes starlet has what it takes to win over Anfield sceptics but only when service from the flanks to to the England international improves

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-30 08:15:00 from: Goal

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

Well, I certainly expected more of what we saw on Wednesday. Chelsea needed to win, or at least that's what their manager said before the game started, so naturally they'd exploit our weak flanks...right?

Well, somehow, it didn't turn out that way.

I watched the entire match and still can't encapsulate what, or how it all happened.

Well, I certainly expected more of what we saw on Wednesday. Chelsea needed to win, or at least that's what their manager said before the game started, so naturally they'd exploit our weak flanks...right?

Well, somehow, it didn't turn out that way.

I watched the entire match and still can't encapsulate what, or how it all happened.

Liverpool: Maxi 53′
Blackburn: Adam (og) 45′

Liverpool drop points again at Anfield, failing convert their late surge into a winning goal against a stubborn Blackburn Rovers side. The return of Steven Gerrard and two late chances got our hopes up, but in the end it was the same frustrating story we've seen from Liverpool so many times in the past year.

10am ET, live in the US on Fox Deportes and FoxSoccer.tv. And all the usual streams that most will have to fall back on.
Last four head-to-head:
1-3 Blackburn (a) 02.12.11
2-1 Liverpool (h) 11.10.10
2-1 Liverpool (h) 03.08.09
2-1 Liverpool (h) 08.24.09
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-0 Wigan (a); 2-0 Villa (a); 1-0 QPR (h)
Blackburn: 1-2 Bolton (h); 1-2 West Brom (h); 1-2 Sunderland (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 5; Own Goal 3; Adam, Bellamy, Carroll, Skrtel 2; Gerrard, Henderson, Johnson, Maxi 1
Blackburn: Yakubu 10, Hoilett 3; Formica, Rochina, Samba 2; Dann, Gamst, Simon 1
Referee: Mike Jones
Beachball.

Of all the issues that's been plaguing this club for years (age, changing of managers, the Michael Jackson statue) one that has been overlooked, or brought up and then seemingly forgotten whenever we go after the next shiny new transfer acquisition, is lack of speed from the wings.

Now, that's different from creativity from the wings.

What a result! Tough game, battling performance, well-earned points. Not vintage but victorious nonetheless.

I was surprised to see Coquelin in the starting line-up at Right Back as Arsene has said in the past the youngster doesn't isn't suited to the role. Perhaps it was due to Miquel's errors at City.

What a result! Tough game, battling performance, well-earned points. Not vintage but victorious nonetheless.

I was surprised to see Coquelin in the starting line-up at Right Back as Arsene has said in the past the youngster doesn't isn't suited to the role. Perhaps it was due to Miquel's errors at City.

Two sets of fairly gifted attackers: one set made space and moved the ball like lightning, the other kept on trying to walk the ball through the most crowded area of the pitch. The game finished 5-0.

We may feel aggrieved at the scoreline, which did flatter United slightly, but our attacking play, though exciting, was not very bright.

The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday that they have signed Panamanian international Gabriel "Gavilan" Gomez.

The press release says "the central midfielder will be eligible to join the Union upon receiving his P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate. Per MLS and Club policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

There's not much in the way of significant news circulating in the immediate wake of our grossly disappointing 1-1 draw in Wigan on Saturday afternoon. What we do have, though, is a few interesting tidbits to touch on. Let's take a look shall we?

To Naples, not London

Vargas opts to join Napoli
Disappointing news out of Chile, with Eduardo Vargas confirming he'll be joining Napoli in the January transfer window.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish celebrated his first league win as a manager at Villa Park as first-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel ensured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Bellamy and Skrtel struck inside the first 15 minutes to seal the Reds' fifth away win in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Liverpool : Bellamy 11′, Skrtel 15′
Aston Villa 0

Like the reverse fixture last season, Liverpool barely get a fight from Aston Villa, easing to victory over an opposition that makes it hard to tell if they're that bad or if Liverpool were really that good.