Not a surprise to hear that Sevilla have hired Jose Miguel Gonzalez, aka Michel, to become their next coach after the firing of Marcelino Garcia Toral on Monday.

Michel will automatically receive an extension to the contract should he guide the 11th-placed side to UEFA Champions League qualification.

Sevilla have fired coach Marcelino García Toral after the 46-year-old failed to halt a run of disappointing results.

Marcelino, who took charge last summer following the departure of Gregorio Manzano, leaves with Sevilla 11th in the standings and just four points above the relegation zone.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With every passing year, the format for the MLS All-Star Game seems to continue to be a point of contention among fans and media, but even with that, the 2012 version won't be providing any drastic changes.

While officially awarding this year's game to Philadelphia, the league announced that it will maintain its unique MLS vs.

Manchester City vs Liverpool
3 January 2012
20.00 GMT
Etihad Stadium

History:
Total Appearances: 162
Liverpool Wins: 80
Manchester City Wins: 41
Draws: 41

Last Premier League Meeting: 27 November 2011 Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Lescott og)

Form:
Liverpool: The Reds have been one of the hardest teams to read this season.

Manchester City vs Liverpool
3 January 2012
20.00 GMT
Etihad Stadium

History:
Total Appearances: 162
Liverpool Wins: 80
Manchester City Wins: 41
Draws: 41

Last Premier League Meeting: 27 November 2011 Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City (Lescott og)

Form:
Liverpool: The Reds have been one of the hardest teams to read this season.

Manchester United to end 2011 top of the table - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The New Year weekend will most likely see Manchester United end 2011 at the top of the table (albeit having played a game more than City), although City will be away to Sunderland on Sunday and it should be business as usual at the top of the table for them come Monday morning.

United have enjoyed a terrific festive period and they are not surprisingly long odds-on at 1.14 to beat Premiership whipping boys Blackburn Rovers.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side come into this having registered back-to-back 5-0 wins over Fulham and Wigan and it would come as no surprise to see them register a similar wide margin victory in this clash.

Since Newcastle started off very well over the first 11 games of the season, and had some very good luck, things have gone against us over the last seven games or so. Luis Suarez misses game on Friday die to one match ban But that may just be starting to change with the news today that Liverpool's star player [.

Sorry I'm just reposting the press release today, not feeling the greatest this morning.
From the Comets.
(Syracuse, NY) The holiday season didn't start off the way the Comets hoped it would as they lose to the Syracuse Silver Knights tonight 18-8. Cory Elenio and Savisa Ubiparapovic each had a hat trick for the Knights while Lucas Rodriguez led the Comets with 4points on two goals.

Andre Villas-Boas is confident his Chelsea team can still qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages, despite last night's 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen.

But confidence seems to be severely lacking for the Blues so far this season, and last night's result means they have now lost four of their last seven games.

After four games in twelve days, nobody would argue with an Arsenal player needing time out of club football for the international break, but it is pleasing to know that for the majority of them, it couldn't be more unwelcome. Having collected 19 points out of a possible 21 in their last seven games, Arsène [.

After yesterday's convincing win by Sporting Kansas City and nail biting victory on aggragate by Real Salt Lake there can be few still willing to argue that the playoffs do not produce compelling soccer. Today's games promise to be every bit as exciting as both away teams will need a victory to advance to the conference finals.

TRABZONSPOR AND TURKISH SUPER LEAGUE'S TOP SCORER BURAK YILMAZ
CSKA Moscow won over Trabzonspor by 3 goals in the last group match in Moscow ...
Now they will face Trabzonspor in Trabzon.....
Where for the first time, their scoring power Burak Yilmaz will take the pitch along with Halil Altintop!

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart has hailed his side as possibly the best in London at the moment, challenging Chelsea and bitter rivals Arsenal to prove otherwise based on form.

The Blues, who have been the most successful team in the English capital in the last decade, have suffered back-to-back defeats against QPR and the Gunners to fall nine points adrift of the league summit.

The Virginia men's soccer team plays Boston College at 7 p.m. Saturday at Klöckner Stadium and ESPN3 will be showing the game on a live webcast.
UVA PRESS RELEASE:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Virginia men's soccer team entertains Boston College at 7 p.

From England to Europe: City & Arsenal on the up as Chelsea & United suffer shock defeats - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Join Clarence Seedorf's AC Milan and many other great teams in this season's UEFA Champions League sponsored by Heineken

Manchester City

It was a weekend for eye-opening Premier League surprises as a new team in Manchester finally announced themselves.

From England to Europe: City & Arsenal on the up as Chelsea & United suffer shock defeats - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Join Clarence Seedorf's AC Milan and many other great teams in this season's UEFA Champions League sponsored by Heineken

Manchester City

It was a weekend for eye-opening Premier League surprises as a new team in Manchester finally announced themselves.

Leicester City have confirmed the sacking (by mutual consent?) of former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson after the Foxes won just two of their last seven games their latest defeat coming against Millwall 3-0 at the week-end seemingly the result which broke the camels back so to speak. And already former Foxes boss Martin O'Neill is favourite to take up the hotseat he left in 2000 for Celtic, with the Filbert Street Thai owners ready to spend whatever it takes to bring the Foxes to a return to the promised land(Premier League).

By Chris Wright

Consider this your chance to get all the Manchester derby jokes out of your system...

Pies says: "Hello? Sir Alex? Did you know...that Arsenal have...pfftch...one-six of their last seven games?

Jon Flanagan insists he's ready to shine if Kenny Dalglish calls upon him for Liverpool FC's clash at Tottenham on Sunday.
The 18-year-old LFC defender could earn a recall for the trip to White Hart Lane as Glen Johnson is ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Flanagan is vying with fellow Academy graduate Martin Kelly, who returned to full training this week, for the right-back slot.

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Union

Today is Roster Freeze Day in MLS and at 5pm the final Philadelphia Union roster for the remainder of the season must be submitted to the league. Will there be any surprises?

How did some of the Union players react to the shambles that was the 2–2 draw between Columbus and Houston on Wednesday night?

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

By ALAN LEDBETTER

A high scoring week in MLS left many fantasy points up for grabs last week. One of the more surprising fantasy performers was Charlie Davies, who notched a hat trick on the road vs.

Sebastien Le Toux scored his second goal of the game in the 92nd minute to cap a remarkable second-half comeback as the Philadelphia Union erased a three-goal halftime deficit en route to a 4-4 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night at PPL Park.

It marked the third straight game in which the Revolution (4-11-12, 24 pts.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

If there were any doubts about the dominance of the Carolina Railhawks after two winless games, they were removed with a 4-1 trouncing of FC Edmonton on Saturday.

Pablo Campos snapped a goalless drought that lasted nearly 700 minutes with a masterful brace to take the forward's goal total to eight on the season.

The Colorado Rapids hold their collective breath while they await the injury diagnosis for star forward Conor Casey.

Casey is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the left calf/Achilles strain he suffered in the first half of Colorado's 4-3 loss at Seattle on Saturday afternoon.

Sporting KC knew that it was better than its 1-6-1 start. Saturday night in Kansas City, Sporting finally climbed out of last place in the Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Vancouver jumped on KC early when Camilo Sanvezzo scored in the 15th minute. But Sporting came right back as Omar Bravo and Julio Santos Correa each scored before halftime to put KC up for good.

Ex-Whitecaps head coach Teitur Thordarson.
de los Cobos is out of a job after Fire axe.
We're barely a third of the way through the season but already poor form is drawing consequences. Two head coaches were let go from their positions yesterday as their clubs seek an immediate turnaround in fortunes.

Photo by Wendy Larsen/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

FC Dallas is undefeated in its last seven games and the Houston Dynamo is winless in its last five, but all that goes out the window when the rivals renew their Texas derby Saturday in Houston.

So, the final league game of the season and although it feels a bit meaningless it's far from that.

If City drop points against Bolton and we beat Fulham then we'll finish third, which as we all know means automatic qualification for next season's Champions League group stages. That means no qualifying round, no disruption to pre-season plans and no threat of not making the CL.

LONDON, England Less than three months ago Arsenal were in sight of an unprecedented quadruple. Now that number – four – is again within sight but with an entirely different connotation. If Manchester City win at Bolton on Sunday they will finish third, even if Arsenal win, simultaneously, against Fulham.

New York Red Bulls 2 Chivas USA 3

After narrowly missing out on a point last weekend at the home of the best team in MLS, Real Salt Lake, Chivas USA went one better - and sent a message in the process to their next opponents, the Western Conference-leading Galaxy, - beating the Eastern Conference leaders Sunday who lost on their own turf this season for the first time this evening.

Will be back in the press box for tomorrow's MLS clash between the New England Revolution and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Both teams come into the match badly in need of a win. The Revolution have 10 points from 9 matches while the Whitecaps have 8 points from 10 matches.

Last Match
New England were held to a scoreless draw at home to Colorado last Saturday, while Vancouver came back for a late 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes in midweek.

Talisman Down
by Thomas Atzenhoffer on The Bleacher Report
April 8, 2011
Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesIn just a little over a month, the Reds have lost nearly half of their best starting 11 to injury.
This morning reports were made through Liverpool's official website, Liverpoolfc.

Bernd Schuster, a man who has become known as the 'Blond Angel' during his career, may sound like a superhero-in-waiting, but proved to be as brittle as the rest of us when he chose to jump before he was pushed last week at Besiktas. The man brought to Turkey on a wave of expectation to replace Mustafa Denizli on a two-year contract worth €5.

Above is the chalkboard which stood out the most. Seven interceptions in a 90 minute span. None in the center of Liverpool's half. Two from Lucas, one from Cole, Gerrard, Johnson, Kuyt, and Skrtel.
For comparison, in the last three league matches, Liverpool had 19 against Wigan, 26 against Chelsea, and 10 against Stoke (where Liverpool were rarely under threat).

Dortmund v Schalke is arguably the fiercest derby in German football

Two games take place in Germany this weekend with local pride as well as three points at stake. The games in question, however, highlight the differing fortunes between football in the west and east of the country. The 1. Bundesliga on Friday night sees the biggest derby in German football between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 whilst Saturday afternoon, in contrast, witnesses a very different contest in the country's second division between capital clubs 1.

Four goals in the last seven games with only one win in that lot: York City. To say that the offense has been slacking is an understatement. Fresh legs and a restart are badly needed. Hopefully our new signing will bring just that.

Welcome to Bolton, Daniel Sturridge!
The young Chelsea and England U-21 forward has been struggling for minutes at Stamford Bridge.