It's now official, Thierry Henry will not be staying with Arsenal longer than Feb 15th. In fact the New York Red Bulls striker is expected back in the United States just two days later

There was hope that the veteran Arsenal player would stay with Arsenal until at least the end of the month but according to New York Red Bulls boss, Hans Backe, Henry is bent on returning to to the MLS side on 17th.

After winning their respective groups, Ivory Coast and Ghana are on a crash course for a high-profile final at the African Cup of Nations, but there is still work to be done before the top two African nations do battle for the continent's top prize.

The Elephants, one of two sides to secure all nine points during the group stage, might have to go through both host countries to reach the final.

Kickoff from White Hart Lane at 7:00PM GMT/2:00PM EST

Liverpool's youngsters return to NextGen Series action today, with their quarterfinal matchup with Tottenham's U19s taking place in London. The brief break in senior squad action allows for attentions to turn to a competition that, on the whole, has been a terrific advertisement for youth football on the continent.

Michael Parkhurst hopes to do enough in the January U.S. Men's National Team camp to earn more looks with the full national team. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

Former New England Revolution central defender Michael Parkhurst has excelled in both MLS and in Europe, but hasn't been a regular contributor to the U.

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina has urged his team-mates to put thoughts of cup showdowns with the two Manchester clubs to the back of their minds ahead of Saturday's trip to Bolton.
The Reds are just 90 minutes away from their first final in six years - and a first visit to Wembley since 1996 - as they hold a 1-0 lead going into Wednesday's Carling Cup semi-final second leg at home to Manchester City.

With the ice storm following the snow storm Seattle Sounders FC canceled today's practice. It was to be the formal opening to training camp, even though most players have participated in voluntary workouts for some time. They've been doing that not just because of the roster competition, but because game one this year is in the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has already set his sights on earning another contract at Anfield despite only just signing an extension.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old agreed a new deal which will keep him at the club until the end of his career - but the midfielder has not set a date on when that will be.

Stoke City head to Anfield currently sitting alone in eighth and unbeaten in their last four. Tony Pulis' side has managed success both domestically and in Europe, as they'll accompany the two Manchester sides in the first knockout round of the Europa League early next month. Liverpool will hope to continue their relative hot streak at home, during which they've scored eight goals in their last two matches at Anfield and finally found a way to finish chances.

It's that time of the year again when local pride is at stake in the numerous state championships which are prevalent in the opening months of the Brazilian football calendar. From Amapá in the far north to Rio Grande do Sul in the south, from Acre in the west to Paraíba in the far east of the country, twenty seven regions of Brazil will be involved in their own local championship, mixing the big boys with the smaller village teams, with each club hoping to win their respective title and qualify for a place in next year's edition of the national cup, Copa Brazil.

Dynamo get to skip preliminary round of ConcaChampions League

Other than the SuperDraft, there was some other news today. CONCACAF changed the format for the Champions League competition, eliminating the preliminary round. The four-year-old competition will remain a 24-club tournament, but instead of an initial knockout phase of 16 teams, all qualifiers will proceed to a main stage of eight, three-team groups, from which only the winners will advance to the quarterfinals.

The four-year-old competition will remain a 24-club tournament, but instead of an initial knockout phase of 16 teams, all qualifiers will proceed to a main stage of eight, three-team groups, from which only the winners will advance to the quarterfinals.

The knockout, or Championship Round, will not be altered.

Valencia - Sevilla 4pm - GolTV It's the Copa del Rey in Spain, a tournament most American fans are probably surprised to find on television. Since it's our only option, here's some background. We're in the round of 16 phase, with Valencia beating Cadiz 4-0 and Sevilla beating San Roque 3-1 over two legs to get here.

The talks between AC Milan and Manchester City over Carlos Tevez seem to have hit a standstill.

Manchester City is maintaining its firm stance that it will not loan Tevez anywhere this winter and is instead only seeking a permanent transfer for the wantaway Argentine striker.

The matchups for the first knockout round of the Europa League have been set, most notably pairing Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan in a regional derby as AZ and Anderlecht pair off.

With AC Milan in the runner-up pot, the odds of a high-profile matchup in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League were quite high. As it turns out, the draw did not disappoint.

Arsenal got paired with Milan during Friday's Champions League draw, setting the stage for an intriguing battle in the tournament's Round of 16.

By Chris Wright

Chasing a huge goal difference swing and needing POAK to beat Rubin Kazan elsewhere, the odds were against Tottenham making it through to the knockout phases last night, but they held up their end of the bargain by racking up an impressive drubbing of Shamrock Rovers at the Tallaght Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend (a real beauty, well worth watching the highlights for), Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane all bagging a goal apiece.

The UEFA Champions League last 16 draw takes place on Friday in Nyon with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Napoli awaiting their fate in the knockout round. Two seeding pots have been formed, one consisting of group winners and the others of runners-up as follows: Group winners: Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Benfica, [.

By Chris Wright

Unbeaten going into the game, ten-man Stoke stumbled to defeat in Turkey in their final Group E game, though it mattered little with them having already booked their place in the knockout phase courtesy of a draw against Dinamo Kiev last time out.

After winning the group which consisted of Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Olympiakos, Arsenal will now be put into pot 1 in the Champions league draw. Here we would face one of the group runners up in the first knockout round of the Champions League. I shall now analyse every possible opponent we could face in [.

Learning from other sports is often a good exercise. I recently discussed how football could use a golf type handicap system to make the UEFA's Financial Fair Play easier to apply for some of Europe's most debt driven clubs. Football could also learn from tennis. I had already referred to this sport when debating on the current World Cup 1st round group stage which is contrary to the spirit of any cup type competition.

And the key fixtures keep on coming. Fresh off our impressive showing in Europe, which ensured Chelsea's advancement to the first knockout round of the Champions League, comes a home date with Manchester City. While we have been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks, this match represents a true litmus test for the club.

Premier League Preview: Arsenal and Chelsea fight to catch up with Tottenham and Manchester City - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

With 15 points separating the top five teams in the English Premier League, the race for a top four place is well and truly on. If you bet on football, you'll know that Manchester City are still favourites for the league title but with a tough set of fixtures ahead of them, things can change very quickly.

I am sure like me, many of you were surprised when you saw the result of Wednesday's Champions League match between French side Olympique Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia.

However, it is now emerging that Olympique Lyon's 7-1 drubbing of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday could have been as a result of a betting scandal.

Amazingly, neither Manchester United nor Manchester City qualified for the knockout rounds of the Champions League. That's good news for fantasy managers, in the long run, as both clubs should put out their first choice lineups in the league from ... Continue reading →

This is extraordinary. Just extraordinary. It's entirely possible that, with a group comprised of Bayern, Napoli and Villarreal, Manchester City's first foray wouldn't go brilliantly. And it didn't, dropping down to the 3rd spot below the Germans and Italians. (Villarreal finishing with a big fat goose egg.

When you think of Manchester United and crucial Champions League games, you normally think of the knockout rounds, right? That is indeed usually the case, but tonight, United are in Switzerland to face Basel, with the knowledge that defeat will send them crashing out of the competition and into the Europa League.

By Geoff Reid

Group A
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich from the Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Arguably the hardest group on paper when the groups were drawn, the visiting Bavarians may have thought they'd have a harder time in this section, but already on 13 points and undefeated, they've already wrapped up the group.

By Chris Wright

Just when Chelsea needed it most, Didier Drogba turned up and put in one of his best performances in a good couple of years to inspire his side to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at the Bridge last night, scoring two goals and filing an assist (for Ramires) to see the Blues comfortably and safely into the knockout phases of the Champions League in the process.

By Chris Wright

Just when Chelsea needed it most, Didier Drogba turned up and put in one of his best performances in a good couple of years to inspire his side to a 3-0 victory over Valencia at the Bridge last night, scoring two goals and filing an assist (for Ramires) to see the Blues comfortably and safely into the knockout phases of the Champions League in the process.

Yossi opens his accounts for Arsenal

This was Arsenal's first defeat in this season's Champions League and it had we not qualified prior, it would be shambolic rather than comical. Olympiacos must have thought we'd done them a favour but they could rightly be disappointed to miss out on the next stage.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

From almost out of the UEFA Champions League to topping Group E, it's been a crazy first campaign for Chelsea manager Andres Villas-Boas.

Talks of crisis at Stamford Bridge seem to be dissipating after Chelsea routed Valencia 3-0 to advance to the knockout round for the ninth consecutive season.

Arsenal's last Champions League group stage match ended in defeat, as a tough Olympiakos team beat an inexperienced Gunners side 3-1 in Greece.

In a match where poor defending dominated, Arsenal went behind from a 16th minute strike from Rafik Djebbour, who rounded Lukasz Fabianski before slotting home to give the Greek side the lead.

Arsenal's last Champions League group stage match ended in defeat, as a tough Olympiakos team beat an inexperienced Gunners side 3-1 in Greece.

In a match where poor defending dominated, Arsenal went behind from a 16th minute strike from Rafik Djebbour, who rounded Lukasz Fabianski before slotting home to give the Greek side the lead.

By Chris Wright

With precious little margin for error, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are all left needing specific results to fall into their lap to progress, with many online gambling companies offering fairly tempting odds on a complete, three-way Anglo-centric balls-up.

It comes down to tomorrow. One night, everything on the line. For Villas Boas, maybe his job. For the rest of us, our sanity. More, after the jump:

The Moment

By now everyone is well aware of the script. Chelsea need a resounding victory or a bore-draw tomorrow to ensure safe passage into the knockout phase of the Champions League.

Other than the games played in preseason, this certainly shapes up to be the least important outing of the season. We're heading to Greece to take on Olympiakos in the final match of the group stages of the Champions League. But fortunately for us, we already have first place wrapped up, so there's no need to wear out our main players in this one.

With the increased globalization of the game, major tournaments are heading to new lands. Austria and Switzerland hosted Euro 2008, with next year's event heading to Poland and Ukraine. Last year South Africa staged the World Cup with Russia and Qatar on the horizon. While I'm all for spreading the game around the globe (aside for whatever shadiness helped Qatar land the 2022 World Cup), this trend presents a flaw with regards to tournament seeding.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover booked their place in the Europa League knockout round despite a loss at Liege while Sacha Kljestan and Anderlecht stayed perfect in group play.

With co-hosts Poland and Ukraine placed in the first pot of the Euro 2012 draw, there was bound to be at least one brutally-tough group in next summer's tournament.

Group B gets the distinction as being the Group of Death, as the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Denmark will vie for two spots in the knockout round.

Chelsea square off with Liverpool for the second time in ten days, at The Bridge no less. Can the result be better than the first go around? I don't see why not- with both sides expected to send out younger squads for the rubber match, everything is up in the air. More, after the jump:

All to play for

While we may have exorcised the demons of lore this weekend, we're still not out of the woods.