The media reports are heating up that Mo Johnston, fresh of his Scottish Football Hall of Fame induction (insert joke here), will announce the signing of Preki (scientific name: Predrag Radosavljevic) as TFC's new manager. Sources are saying that negotiations are well under way and that an official announcement could come as early as Thursday. Click to continue reading...

In August 1992, on the opening day of the inaugural Premier League season, 22 teams took to pitches up and down the country with just 11 players born outside the British Isles named in the starting line-ups. 17 seasons later and with the foreign invasion showing no signs of slowing down, English born players have become a minority in their own top flight.

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Thomas Vermaelen has settled in well in Arsenal defensive line-ups alongside William Gallas this season. To date, they have scored 9 goals between them but at the same time making sure the defense are tight at the back.
There is no plan for Arsene Wenger to rotate them with other centre backs as he does not want to break the Gallas-Vermaelen harmony. Click to continue reading...

For those of us that follow a major European team, there is a weekly pattern that develops over the season. After the weekend game, many fans like myself spend a couple of days absorbing commentary about the game. Youtube is scoured for clips and the blogs are mined for insights.

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Juan Carlos Osorio didn't help matters in New York. (Getty Images)

Not much was good in 2009 for the New York Red Bulls. Fresh off a trip to the MLS Cup in 2008 many thought this could be a break out season for the club. Instead the season got started with a bang in a bad way by losing to an expansion club on opening day 3-0 in Seattle.

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And those words are: Western Conference champions!

In a fitting display on their home turf, the Los Angeles Galaxy put the finishing touches on a worst-to-first regular season for 2009. After a horrific 2008, the culmination of years of front-office incompetence and on-field underachievement accomplished under the glare of international media, the Galaxy put together a season that culminated in a first-in the West finish and a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

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Defeat against Man United on Sunday is unthinkable, and the decisions Rafa Benitez makes for that game could literally make or break Liverpool's season. Despite the doom and gloom hovering over the club at the moment, if Rafa keeps it simple and goes with aces in their places, I fully expect Liverpool to beat United. Click to continue reading...

The Game Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky are all out injured for the Gunners who will be looking for their third consecutive Champions League win tonight. Onto the line-ups with Gael Clichy returning as ... Click to continue reading...

The Game Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky are all out injured for the Gunners who will be looking for their third consecutive Champions League win tonight. Onto the line-ups with Gael Clichy returning as ...

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With Gerrard and Torres out of today's game against Sunderland, Liverpool fans are waiting with bated-breath to see what team will be sent out by Rafa Benitez. As a comparison, Liverpool have been without their two star players five times in the past. How did the teams line-up in those games?
TOULOUSE: August 2007 (4-0 win)
-------------- Reina
Arbeloa -- Agger -- Hyypia -- Riise
Benayoun -- Sissoko -- Masch -- Leto
----------- Crouch -- Kuyt
CHELSEA: December 2007 (2-0 defeat)
-------------- Reina
Arbeloa -- Carra -- Hobbs -- Aurelio
--------- Alonso -- Sissoko
Voronin ------ Lucas ------- Babel
------------- Crouch
LUTON: Jan 2008 (1-1)
-------------- Reina
Finnan -- Carra -- Hyypia -- Riise
---------- Alonso --- Lucas
Kuyt ------ Benayoun ------ Babel
------------ Crouch
FULHAM: April 2008 (2-0 win)
-------------- Reina
Finnan -- Skrtel -- Hyypia -- Riise
Benayoun -- Masch -- Lucas -- Pennant
---------- Crouch -- Voronin
MANCHESTER UNITED: September 2008 (2-1 win)
-------------- Reina
Arbeloa -- Carra -- Skrtel -- Aurelio
---------- Alonso -- Masch
Kuyt ---------- Benayoun ------- Riera
---------------- Keane
The Chelsea defeat aside, Benitez hasn't gone particularly defensive when Gerrard and Torres have both been missing. Click to continue reading...

No LIVE tonight, but we have a preview look from ESPN and I'll be back in about 30 with the line-ups (as well as the usual wrap bits after).UPDATE:Howard; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Bornstein, Feilhaber, Bradley, Holden, Donovan, Altidore, CaseyBench: Guzan, Conrad, Torres, Rogers, Cooper, Spector, Clark- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

I'm still sweating whether my feed will hold up all the way through, but it's about 98% that I'll have one.I'll be back around 8.30 PM ET with my thoughts, with the line-ups and a prediction to follow at around 9 PM. This is what I expect will be the line-up:Howard; Cherundolo, Onyewu, Bocanegra, Hejduk, Bradley, Clark, Holden, Donovan, Davies, AltidoreSee ya in a while. Click to continue reading...

I will come back tomorrow with my thoughts on the contest tomorrow, kicking off either a standard prediction/line-ups/recap post or a LIVE if I can swing a home feed. I'm working on it.So off we go to the Reading Room:- USMNT match notes- Coach Bradley's conference call quote sheet- FIFA match preview- Michael C. Click to continue reading...

The Game

Arsenal are after their third consecutive Premiership win after beating Wigan and Fulham in their last two games. Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner are both back for the Gunners with Walcott celebrating his first official game of the season after making a comeback from a back injury.

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The Game

Arsenal are after their third consecutive Premiership win after beating Wigan and Fulham in their last two games. Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner are both back for the Gunners with Walcott celebrating his first official game of the season after making a comeback from a back injury.

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Here are a few notes as well as the line-ups for me and Jeremy... Players I'm tracking for potential Barn Door for two weeks from now (next week we have an International Break)... RvP (I already have him this week but I'd be looking at him if I were you); Saha/Bily/Heitinga (and really anyone from Everton as they host Wolves next weekend); and Spurs players (especially SeaBass, THud, and Crouch Click to continue reading...

Celtic visit Rangers this Sunday in a top of the table clash even though Celtic have opened up a 6 point lead going into October. You can watch Celtic v Rangers live here.

In the build up to this Sunday's game, we step back into the Archives on May 10 1980 and look at a classic Old Firm clash - the 1980 Scottish Cup Final where Rangers were taking on their foes Celtic in which was to be a top class battle at Hampden Park.

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Gary Cahill has turned into quite the little star recently. Speculation is coming from all sides about performing for England. He definitely has quality competition, and were I in Capello's place I wouldn't play Cahill before Ferdinand or Terry in a competitive match, however in a friendly I would definitely give Cahill his chance (probably partnered with Terry, given the choice).

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The Game

Having escaped an early first game scare away at Standard Liege, the Gunners will face Greek leaders Olympiacos in today's Champions League game. Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott and Denilson, together with Samir Nasri and Manuel Almunia are all ruled out of the game.

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The Game

Having escaped an early first game scare away at Standard Liege, the Gunners will face Greek leaders Olympiacos in today's Champions League game. Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott and Denilson, together with Samir Nasri and Manuel Almunia are all ruled out of the game.

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I was held up too much to post about an hour ago, and the line-ups are now out. The U.S. (who seem to have switched to 4-4-2?) are listed by position and Cameroon by ordinal jersey number.Perk; Williams, Opara, Agbossoumonde, Flores, Arguez, Cruz, Jeffrey, Duka, Taylor, SheaBeyokol; Yaya, Fomen, Boumal, Owona, Teieku, Essengue, Tiko, Bapidit, Djousse, Akono EfaBack in a few with my usual prattle. Click to continue reading...

I'll be back in the morning to open up U.S. v Cameroon LIVE with a bit of commentary, my expected line-up and a prediction, later followed of course by the official line-ups, the game action filtered through my smarmy lens and the eventual highlight reel.With all that packed into tomorrow's post, I will simply usher everyone into the reading room. Click to continue reading...

The Game

Having lost their last two away games in the Premiership, Arsene Wenger's side will be looking to end the away negative run as they face Roy Hodgson's Fulham. And, with Chelsea losing away at Wigan, simply put, the Gunners cannot blow such a golden chance to close the gap at the top.

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The Game

Having lost their last two away games in the Premiership, Arsene Wenger's side will be looking to end the away negative run as they face Roy Hodgson's Fulham. And, with Chelsea losing away at Wigan, simply put, the Gunners cannot blow such a golden chance to close the gap at the top.

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We're about 45 minutes from kickoff, which means line-ups are in. The U.S. Under-20's are running a 4-3-3, and are listed here in our standard positional form (by line, R-to-L), while Germany are simply listed in order by shirt number:Perk: Mayen, Agbossoumonde, Opara, Davies, Powers, Jeffrey, Diskerud, Ownby, Shea, TaylorZieler; Jung, Jungwirth, L. Click to continue reading...

What Happened to the Traditional Scoreboard?

Tonight I made the short trip from my house to watch Nottingham Forest v Blackburn in one of the Carling Cup games many had identified to have the potential for a cup upset, the game itself was patchy with one of two niggly injury periods of two or three minutes, during one of these breaks in play I looked up to check the time and confirm my count of the score ( I made it 0-0 after 20 minutes).

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The Game

It's the first game of Arsenal's Carling Cup campaign. As always, Arsene Wenger opts to start with a young side although Philippe Senderos and Mikael Silvestre will provide experience at the back. Although on the bench, Carlos Vela makes his first appearance of the season after the Gold Cup injury and it's great news for the Gunners to have him back.

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The Game

It's the first game of Arsenal's Carling Cup campaign. As always, Arsene Wenger opts to start with a young side although Philippe Senderos and Mikael Silvestre will provide experience at the back. Although on the bench, Carlos Vela makes his first appearance of the season after the Gold Cup injury and it's great news for the Gunners to have him back.

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Well I have got one out of two starting line ups up to now so lets see if I'm correct this time. Early news suggests the team will be as follows Cavalieri, Degen, Carra, Kyrgiakos, Dossena, Riera, Aurelio, Spearing, Mascherano, Babel and Ngog. Gerrard and Torres warm the bench. Rafa is obviously not underestimating the task and has eight [. Click to continue reading...

Too much of a good thing, this maybe the dilemma that is rattling themind of REAL MADRID Coach Pellegrini as he figures out how tobalance & create a clock working team. The observations & theexperience up till now show a potential dependence on midfielderXabi Alonso as "Director of the Orchestra" & a lack of a stable ongoingtactical set up in the team's line-ups. Click to continue reading...

If BMO ever decides to pull their sponsorship from Toronto FC, we'd like to make a suggestion - Nyquil. The nighttime syrup has nothing on a TFC road match for helping you get your Z's. The Reds went to Los Angeles on Saturday night knowing that all of their close rivals for the post season had dropped points earlier in the day. Click to continue reading...

The Game

Having lost their last two Premiership games, Arsenal will be looking to take full advantage of the Emirates support to get back on winning terms. Standing on their way are Roberto Martínez's Wigan, who, according to their manager, are ready to cause an upset against one of the so-called "Top Four".

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The Game

Having lost their last two Premiership games, Arsenal will be looking to take full advantage of the Emirates support to get back on winning terms. Standing on their way are Roberto Martínez's Wigan, who, according to their manager, are ready to cause an upset against one of the so-called "Top Four".

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Who: Arsenal (9th) Vs Wigan Athletic (11th)
What: Barclays Premier League, Round 5 for Arsenal, Round 6 for Wigan.
Where: Emirates Stadium, Ashburton Grove, London N5, England.
The Gunners are back in London, after visiting Manchester twice, and Belgium once in their past 3 matches. Click to continue reading...

The Game

Having lost back to back games away at Manchester, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal will try to get back to winning terms as they face Standard Liege away from home in their first Champions League group game.

If you want, please do join the discussion in our comments section which will also be active when the game kicks-off.

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