Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has stoked up the mounting pressure on himself by incredibly insisting: "I don't have to win a trophy."
The Reds' title dreams have been hit by FIVE League defeats already this season; they crashed out of the Carling Cup at Arsenal in midweek and their Champions League dreams will be in tatters if they lose Wednesday's crucial Group E clash in Lyon. Click to continue reading...

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

Two close losses to Germany in UEFA World Cup qualifying has the Russian national team in a two-legged playoff with Slovenia. Many see this as the most lopsided of the four UEFA qualifying playoffs, though Slovenia who allowed only four goal in ten qualifiers should give the Russians significant problems.

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John Tarkpor will possibly line up for his new club, Persebaya, against his old club, Persitara, after a long winded, drawn out pre season transfer that had both sides fighting over his registration.
Persebaya won and on his debut, alongside fellow new signings Claude Ngon A Djam and Takotoshi Uchida they got thumped 4-1 by fellow newly promoted side PSPS Pekanbaru. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benítez believes that Liverpool have been the victims of bad luck this season and has spoken of his conviction that the club will have significantly improved their league position within "one or two months". The Liverpool manager, who has presided over six defeats in the last eight matches ahead of Birmingham City's visit tonight, claimed he was "100% sure" his team would start to climb the table. Click to continue reading...

Sevilla has been playing with a lot of confidence recently.� In fact the squad has quietly rested in the top three spots all season and� won seven matches� out of ten� and only lost two over that span.� In other words Sevilla is one of the best clubs in the league.� But could they be the best?

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It took four rounds of play but the Champions League group stages is finally heating up.

If the group stages finished as they are now, then Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Liverpool would all be playing in the Europa League.

Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan were five minutes away from an 9th consecutive Champions League game without a win, when two late goals not only gave Inter the win, but also propelled them to first place in the group.

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" Mmmmmmm. Where is my Rolodex? "

With Franck Ribery out, Bayern has been struggling without his creativity. They lost to Bordeaux, 0-2 in the CL and are almost out of contention to make the round of sixteen.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern are in sixth place with 19 points after five wins, four draws, and two losses.

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Liverpool's chances of advancing to the UEFA Champions League knockout stage are on life support after the team's 1-1 draw at Olympique Lyon earlier today. With the point from the draw, Lyon become the first team in the group to advance. Likely to join them are Fiorentina, who sit second on nine points. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal handed Tottenham Hotspur a critical 3-0 loss in our PLTO Match of the Week.� The win� keeps Arsenal in third place and they remain right in the mix despite being back four points because they have played one less game.� The Spurs, on the other hand, drop back to fifth place with the loss.

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It was a rare week in La Liga becasue Barca did not win.� Don't get too excited because they did not lose either.� But you have to hand it to Osasuna.� They have played as well as anyone recently and they gave the treble winners a battle 1-1 leaving the door open for clubs to move up the board a few points.

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"I don't have to win a trophy."

Maybe a bit sensationalist to leave that excerpt as the lead-in, but the overall thrust of an article from the Times(among other sources) is that Rafa Benitez feels that progress alone is an acceptable indicator of success. Since there's plenty of ammo here, I figured it's best digested quote-by-quote:

"I don't agree with people when they say you have to win trophies.

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Rafa Benitez has claimed success at Liverpool should not be measured in trophies.
The Merseysiders pride themselves as being the most successful club in England, with 18 titles and five European Cups.
But Benitez, who takes Liverpool into a week that could decide their Champions League fate after Saturday's shock 3-1 defeat at Fulham, said: "I don't agree when people say that you have to win trophies. Click to continue reading...

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

When it comes to conversations about the most dysfunctional clubs in Major League Soccer, the New York Red Bulls often tend to dominate the conversations, but one club that needs to start being discussed is the Colorado Rapids.

The Rapids downright imploded in the final six weeks of the MLS season to miss out on the playoffs for a third straight year.

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Inter Milan moved four points clear at the top of Serie A after winning an eight-goal thriller against Palermo tonight.

The game seemed to be all wrapped up when two goals each from Samuel Eto'o and Mario Balotelli gave Inter a 4-0 lead at the interval, but Palermo fought their way back to put the Nerazzurri under pressure.

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Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo is set to miss his � club's second meeting with AC Milan in next week's mouthwatering Champions League clash. The Portuguese winger has been sidelined with an ankle injury, and despite positive reports earlier in the week it has now been revealed that he will miss the match.

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With the biggest game probably being at the Artemio Franchi between Fiorentina and Napoli, Serie A did not present too much interest this weekend. However Sampdoria were hoping that Inter would drop points to jump above them to the top the table. Juventus needed a change in fortunes after not winning in four while AC Milan wanted to continue their two game winning streak against Chievo.

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Hertha Berlin general manager Michael Preetz has refused to deny speculation linking them with a move for Andriy Voronin.
Reports in the German press have suggested that Hertha are eyeing a winter move for the Liverpool striker, who spent a spell on loan at the club last season, as well as Wolfsburg attacker Ashkan Dejagah. Click to continue reading...

Handsy's brain on a Friday night
International breaks and Friday nights, there is nothing that will make a fantasy Premier League manager twitch faster...
Idle hands are the devil's playground, if I am anywhere near my computer after having an adult beverage or two there is nothing more tempting than adjusting my fantasy roster. Click to continue reading...

The Colorado Rapids will not be going to the postseason for the third straight year after New England beat Columbus today. Remarkably, the Rapids were still in with a shout at getting a playoff spot after their 3-0 beating by Real Salt Lake yesterday. Results elsewhere meant that they could still get into the postseason, apparently if Columbus beat New England. Click to continue reading...

FC Barcelona would be looking to put behind them the recent set-backs suffered in their campaign tonight at Camp Nou. A failure to defeat Zaragoza at home will see alarm bells ringing around Barca faithfuls. With Gijon holding Real Madrid to a goal less draw last night, it is upto Barca to capitalise on Real's slip up. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's dynamic full back Glen Johnson is relishing Sunday's showdown with Manchester United, and insists the regional rivalry as well as the added pressure for Rafael Benitez's Reds, are just two of the reasons why he was determined to join the Anfield outfit.
"This type of game is everything I have worked for," Johnson explained to the club's official website. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez has urged his hurting squad to show strength in adversity and turn their season around in the "perfect game".
Liverpool are currently embroiled in their worst run of form for 22 years but Benitez has remained in a bullish mood ahead of tomorrow's Anfield test against Manchester United. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez thinks his side are still well capable of beating Manchester United on Sunday and ending their catastrophic run of four consecutive defeats.
The Reds can reduce the gap between themselves and United to four points should they win on Sunday, and Benitez was focusing firmly on the positives ahead of Sunday's game. Click to continue reading...

By Barca's high standards this year's CL performance has been shocking. A bare four points and tied with Dynamo Kyiv and Rubin Kazan at the half way mark in the group stage is not what Pep Guardiola and Xavi had in mind.

Xavi sounded a bit defensive, when he said that all the talk of an end of a cycle was nonsense and that the defeat against Rubin Kazan was unexpected.

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Sporting Gijon-Real Madrid

Sporting has been one of the hottest clubs of late with consecutive wins over Athletic Bilbao and Mallorca.� Miguel de las Cuevas has scored four goals in the last two games, so he looks to continue his streak against one of Spain's toughest defenses in Madrid.

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You can watch Fulham v Roma Live online here.

Fulham v Roma
Craven Cottage
Europa League
Thursday 22 October 20:05 BST

Claudio Ranieri will be hoping that his good record against Fulham FC – and their manager Roy Hodgson – will count for something as AS Roma visit Fulham FC in UEFA Europa League Group E, seeking a first competitive win in London.

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Just as the referees' apparent lack of fitness stole the headlines in the aftermath of Sunderland's last game, their latest encounter – and encouraging performance – was lost amongst the furore surrounding that red balloon.

Journalists, match officials, and former referees were left to scramble through the rule book to work out whether the goal should have been chalked off, as confusion reigned at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

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Barcelona v Rubin Kazan
Tuesday 20 October 2009, Camp Nou
UEFA Champions League
Kick-Off: 19:45 UK (20:45 CET)

Barcelona will be expected to take three points from this easy Champions League home game - while Valencia's performance would have given other teams in Spain hope that Barcelona can be beaten, Rubin Kazan aren't in the same class as Valencia and home advantage should nullify any hopes they might have had of causing an upset.

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Manager Pep Guardiola addressed the media on Monday regarding the team's matchup on Tuesday at home against Russian side Rubin Kazan in the Champions League. Guardiola called the match a "vital" one saying, "The group remains very complicated, but winning against Rubin would be a very important step and we would be three or four points in the standings.

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An impressive 1-0 win by Deportivo La Coruña over Sevilla on Saturday raises Depor to a tie of third place with Sevilla at fifteen points, four points behind league leaders FC Barcelona.� Los blanquiazules have won five of their first seven matches this season, and their only two losses came at the hands of Espanyol 2-3 and Real Madrid 2-3.

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One week to go, and this is where we stand:

As the table stands now, this would be the playoff matchup –

WEST�

Los Angeles vs Seattle

Houston vs Chivas

EAST

Columbus vs � Colorado

Chicago vs Toronto

Remember, the first tie-breaker is head to head competition, not goal difference.

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A Petkovic brace sinks the leaders

Two goals from Flamengo's Petkovic ended Palmeiras' unbeaten run in the Palestra Itália and cut their lead at the top of the table to just four points.

The Greens dominated for most of the first-half but an excellent dribble and finish by the veteran Petkovic put Fla ahead.

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One might think with only two games remaining (for all teams except Chivas USA, who has played 27, and New York, who've played 29) in the 2009 season, the playoff picture would be fairly straight forward. If you happened to think this, however, you'd be wrong - things are not very clear at all and the standings are tight. Click to continue reading...

Tonight, in just about two hours, RSL goes up against the New York Red Bulls in a must win game. RSL is up against the wall after 18 days off from league play. RSL is currently sitting four points out of a playoff spot with three games left. Two of the games are home in Rio Tinto, tonight's match and the final match of the season at home against the Colorado Rapids.

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League Two side hit the first of many self-destruct buttons.

League Two big-spenders Notts County have sacked manager Ian McParland.

Speculation had been rife that director of football Sven Goran Eriksson was set to depart Meadow Lane, just months after he joined the club.

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