In the furious neverending November rain, Fulham made one mistake and lost the game. James McFadden, a quality player in an average Birmingham side, clipped a ball over the Fulham back four to Lee Bowyer, Bowyer flipped the ball over Mark Schwarzer, and the ball nestled in the net. 1-0.  Bowyer was clean through because only three of the Fulham back four pushed up at the same time, Brede Hangeland delaying for a split second that ruined everything.

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Carlo Cudicini, the Tottenham goalkeeper, fractured his wrists and injured his pelvis after being involved in a road accident this morning. A spokesman for London's Metropolitan police said the ambulance service and an emergency helicopter had attended the scene and found the 36-year-old motorcyclist suffering from injuries described by medics as "possibly life-changing". Click to continue reading...

The England squad to play Brazil next Saturday in an International friendly has been announced. The main news for Man United is that Michael Owen has yet again not been included in the squad. This isn't much of a surprise, he hasn't played that much for United, so why would he get into the England squad? Click to continue reading...

Glen Johnson has pulled out of the England squad to face Brazil on Saturday in Doha after picking up a slight injury in Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at Anfield on Monday night.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes of the Premier League game before joining up with his England team-mates, where he underwent a routine recovery session while the rest of the squad trained at London Colney. Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard's hotly-disputed second-half penalty rescued a point for Liverpool but did little to lift the pressure on boss Rafael Benitez.
It is just one win now in nine matches for the Reds and they must be grateful for the two-week international break which will allow the dust to settle on their faltering season. Click to continue reading...

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Birmingham was hard done by Peter Walton's decision to award a PK after the French striker went down in the box from a tackle by Lee Carsley. Problem was Carsley never touched him. Steven Gerrard subbing for the injured Riera converted the penalty and Liverpool scraped a draw.

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There are several international friendlies on Saturday, November 14, 2009 while the final 2010 World Cup Final spots are determined. One of the more high profile friendlies is England v Brazil which will be at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Both nations have qualified for next summer's world cup and are two of the favorites to advance far into the tournament.

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David N'Gog won a controversial penalty that spared under-pressure Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez a humiliating home defeat to Birmingham in a 2-2 draw at Anfield. The draw means Liverpool, with only one win in nine matches, are seventh but 11 points behind leaders Chelsea. Birmingham stay 15th, two points above the drop zone.

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To recap:

* David Ngog opened the scoring with a stunning volley from six yards after some good Liverpool pressure.

* Liverpool concede the equalizer from a set-piece: Brum get three headers in the box, the last by Chucho Benitez past Pepe Reina.

* Albert Riera aggravated his hamstring injury (again) and had to come off.

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Time to stand up and be counted.

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is hopeful Fernando Torres will be fit, and the striker has been in light training as he recovers from a groin injury.

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Ahead of Sundays game at Birmingham I had the chance to catch up with Kev, who runs the Birmingham City blog 'Joys and Sorrows' to gage the mood ahead of the game and to pose one or two questions about how the season has been going so far.
How has Joe Hart fared this season? Would you like to sign permanently and will that happen? Click to continue reading...

Happy Halloween
Lots of injuries coming out of Premier League training grounds this week that fantasy managers should be aware of going into what looks like a pretty tasty weekend for the Big-4 sides that could produce loads of goals...

• Thomas Sorensen will be back for Stoke.

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While most of the US was transfixed by the Balloon Boy saga, Liverpool fans were encountering their own problems with dirigibles.

Yes, a bright red beach ball that wandered onto the pitch seems to have transfixed Pepe Reina's attention. Enough distraction and deflection of a Darren Bent shot to find its way to goal.

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Yesterday's game was interesting for a variety of reasons. The games after an International break usually herald the banana skin fixtures, with either injuries or jet lagged stars contributing to upsets, and Only Man United and Arsenal managed to evade the slip up, with Liverpool and incredibly Chelsea losing the initiative.

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I can't just let Vermy be the top scorer, can't I

It was the 7th consecutive win on the trot for Arsenal Football Club since the double losses to both Manchester clubs. It was not the best of performance from the boys. Exciting and seemed to be cruising, then almost immediately allowed Birmingham back into the game until the 3rd goal arrived.

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Speaking about the key presence that Given has become since his signing from Newcastle last January:

"Shay's been more than I could have hoped for in terms of his presence on the field.
"He's got a calming influence on the back four. That's made a marked difference to the way the guys in front of him have been able to defend.

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Well, 3 more points, and we're back into the top 4, with 18 points from 8 games. And functionally, you could make the argument that we're in 2nd place, since we're only 3 points behind 2nd place Chelsea, with a home match against Bolton in hand, and a goal differential advantage over the Blues (and everyone else in the Premiership, for that matter).

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Fabio takes his victorious side to Ukraine.

Watch Ukraine Vs England Live Online!

Fabio Capello says he expects England to play with a positive attitude in Ukraine to try to maintain their 100% record in World Cup qualifying.
Eight wins from eight have seen England confirm their passage to South Africa.

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Firstly, apologies that we've missed a couple of weeks on the Premiership front due to obligations elsewhere but as England have their last qualifying games for the 2010 World Cup coming up and it would be missing the point of the entire blog for to ignore them, we're back for a two part preview of the qualifiers that are taking place all over the world over the next week or so.

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Where did all the heroes go?

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David James is as old as Methuselah(officially), Ben Foster has hands made out of butter (official), Paul Robinson still bears the scars of previous England and Tottenham gaffes, Robert Green and Chris Kirkland aren't considered big enough names, so just who is England's number one?

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A couple of weeks ago, we published an article that aimed to show which part of London was the best for producing top quality Premier League players. The intention was to put before you a team of players for North, South, East and West London based on the birthplace of some of the capital's finest, before pontificating on which team would be the best. Click to continue reading...

12 goals from defense the past two seasons, beat that Vermaelen
Our Funny Feeling Friday selection this week - an unpopular (by fantasy terms), underrated, or out of form player who we think will start producing in the coming weeks is Birmingham's central defensive summer signing Roger Johnson. Click to continue reading...

Looking for bargain players below the top price in each position? There are some great valued players to be had if you're looking to free up some cash for that "big" signing. Kevin picks out two from each position and tells you why you should be investing in these great valued players.

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. Image via Wikipedia Aston Villa have won the Midlands derby 1-0 against Birmingham at St Andrews. It turned out to be a quiet game with both sides looking like they didn't want to make a mistake. The game lacked clear cut chances. Villa keeper Brad Friedel and opposite number Joe Hart were not troubled until [. Click to continue reading...

They Think It's All Over... writes a WDKF Wednesday article on the outsiders for England's World Cup squad. Click to continue reading...

Adam Howard, of They Think It's All Over..., has a look at some of the candidates for inclusion in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad next Summer and assesses their chances of making the plane. Click to continue reading...

Much has been written about the way in which Mark Hughes has overhauled the side over the past twelve months, with the deadline day sale of Richard Dunne a symbolic move given his links to the past.
Not only was Dunne the longest serving player, but he was clearly the most experienced City player with his 290 league starts. Click to continue reading...

.Arsenal Transfered In: Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax, £11m), Damian Martinez (Club Athletico Independiente, £1.3m), Jamie Edge (Cheltenham, undisc) Transfered Out: Abu Ogogo (Dag & Red, free), Amaury Bischoff (Academica de Coimbra, free), Emmanuel Adebayor (Man C, £25m), Kolo Toure (Man C, £14m), Jay Simpson (QPR, loan), James Dunne (Exeter, free), Rui Fonte (Lisbon, free), Rene Steer (Oldham, free), [. Click to continue reading...

There is a lengthy interview in todays Guardian by Daniel Taylor with Joe Hart, who has made a solid start to his season with Birmingham. In it he talks about the decision to bring in Shay Given, his start at Birmingham and his future prospects:

"I was comfortable about how I had done.

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Manchester United have started their Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham at Old Trafford. United put early pressure on Birmingham and it was no surprised when United took the lead in the 34th minute through Wayne Rooney.

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Man Utd did enough to beat Birmingham, 1-0 despite the absence of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, their regular center backs both out with injuries. Jonny Evans and John O'Shea took their place and managed to keep the Blues away.

Michael Owen came on the 74th minute for Dimitar Berbatov and had some nice touches.

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have defence Premier with victory City. scored goal game also chances it two.
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Wayne Rooney's goal in the 34th minute gave Manchester United a 1-0 win over newly promoted Birmingham City as the Red Devils began their march towards an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League crown.

Right from the start the Red Devils looked strong and confident, even after announcing a depleted backline.

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Man United v Birmingham Live Streaming & Match Preview
Premier League - Man United vs Birmingham City Live Online - Click Here
Sunday, 16th August 2009
Kick Off : 13:30 GMT
Venue : Old Trafford, Manchester

Last seasons Premier League champions Manchester United will kick off their new season against the newly-promoted Birmingham City, with City manager Alex McCleish probably happy to get this one fixture out of the way, although he will be hoping for a positive start which the club can build on throughout the season.

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Joe Hart replaces injured Ben Foster in England squad - FIFA World Cup 2010 - ESPN Soccernet
Apparently Ben Foster won't be participating in England's friendly with Holland this week. I didn't see any evidence of a knock during the match. Certainly could be SAF holding him back for some extra training or could be a sign that Kuszczak is the more fit keeper and will therefore get the starts in Week 1 matches. Click to continue reading...