David Silva is behind more goals than any other midfielder, having a total of 17 goals and assists, followed by Gareth Bale on 16. Nani and Mata are tied on 13, Valencia and Nasri on 10, Giggs with 9 and Young on 7. However, when you take in to consideration the games they've actually played in, specifically focussing on starts, Giggsy comes out top with an impressive 1.

This post originally appeared on our Arsenal blog, but I thought it was worth covering here. There are some mind blowing quotes from Arsene Wenger in Tuesday's Daily Mirror.

Arsene Wenger is quoted as talking about how much he likes Lille's £30m-rated Eden Hazard, but he basically says that Hazard is too expensive for Arsenal.

It seems odd to me, but over the last few weeks I've seen Aaron Ramsey come in for a lot of criticism, especially on the angst-spewing machine that is Twitter. The main bone of contention seems to be that he has become an automatic first XI pick for Arsene this year, despite the fact that he has not contributed enough to the team.

Chelsea v Manchester United: A Battle Of Widths - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

According to Castrol EDGE Performance analysis, both Manchester United and Chelsea's wingers have been key to both club's positive play this season, with Antonio Valencia, Nani, Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge all enjoying impressive campaigns.

As hinted at in last night's post it felt like a good night to be a blue from the word go.
City always seem to fall foul of Everton's superior workrate and commitment. Players like Aguero, Villa and Nasri have added real class to go along with the brawn but where is the steel that side will need to win a title?

A few months ago, everything was going swimmingly for City. All they seemingly had to do was to show up for win after lopsided win. But then there was a gradual slide in theor fortunes. At the end of January their season is but a litany of thwarted ambitions. Out of the Champions League in December and by last week, the Carling Cup and the FA Cup, their accelerated program to win the Premiership title seems to have hit a wall and in danger of being snatched by those other pesky Mancunians and the upstart Spurs.

There's a slim chance Carlos Tevez (in sparkier times above) will be joining Samuel Eto'o's Russian playground, Anzhi, before the transfer window closes at 12am tonight. But don't bank on it chicos! Milan, PSG and Inter all held discussions with him in the past months and everyone basically snapped their fingers and said "NO", except for Anzhi who're apparently willing to pay £15m for him.

Arsenal supporters are becoming increasingly frustrated at the club's recent failure to compete for major honours in the past 7 years.

The ‘so near yet so far' statement could not ring more true than it does for the Gunners and the fans are starting to lose patience.

The poisonous atmosphere that has swept across the Emirates Stadium in back-to-back games against Manchester United and Aston Villa must be a worry to both the manager and the board.

Manchester City Football Club has become the first Premier League team to create virtual avatars of their superstars Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri as part of a new International digital marketing campaign, City Fan Cam

Liverpool lead 1-0 on aggregate.
2:45pm ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
1-0 Liverpool (a) 01.11.12
0-3 City (a) 01.03.12
1-1 (h) 11.27.11
3-0 Liverpool (h) 04.11.11
Previous rounds:
Liverpool: 2-1 Chelsea (a); 2-1 Stoke (a); 2-1 Brighton (a); 3-1 Exeter (a)
City: 1-0 Arsenal (a); 5-2 Wolves (a); 2-0 Brum (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 Bolton (a); 0-0 Stoke (h); 1-0 City (a)
City: 3-2 Tottenham (h); 1-0 Wigan (a); 0-1 Liverpool (h)
Goalscorers (Carling Cup):
Liverpool: Suarez 3; Maxi 2; Bellamy, Carroll, Gerrard, Kelly, Kuyt 1
City: Dzeko 2; Agüero, Balotelli, Johnson, Hargreaves, Nasri 1
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Gerrard Spearing
Downing Henderson Bellamy
Kuyt
What exactly did Dalglish mean by "If that's the level they [the players] expect this football club to play at, they won't be here long"?

THFC1882 presents Adam Nathan's report of Tottenham Hotspur's visit to Manchester City.

They are two time-old clichés, but not only is it a funny old game, it's also one heck of a rollercoaster following Tottenham Hotspur. After a drab first half, the second period against Manchester City yesterday afternoon pretty much had it all.

By Chris Wright

Given that he really shouldn't have been on the pitch by that time, Tottenham had every right to feel absolutely bloody eviscerated at the final whistle seeing as Mario Balotelli both won and then subsequently rolled home a 95th-minute penalty to nab all three points for Man City with the final touch of the game at the Etihad.

szólj hozzá: Man City v Tottenham 3:2 MOTD

The first half was as dull and dragging as the Utd vs Arsenal match. The second half was just the opposite - a high voltage pulsating encounter between 1st placed City and 3rd placed Spurs. Roberto Mancini's squad went ahead in the second half through Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott, both goals within minutes of each other.

Manchester City maintain their lead at the top of table and also widen their gap with third place team, Tottenham Hotspurs after Roberto Mancini's team edged passed Harry Redknapp's boys this Sunday.

Controversial Italian striker, Mario Balotelli arrived as City's savior in the match after scoring the winning goal deep in injury time.

Balotelli Parker Video 2012- Mario Balotelli Stamp on Scott Parker January 2012 Man City Tottenham is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Balotelli Parker Video 2012- Mario Balotelli Stamp on Scott Parker January 2012 Man City Tottenham is a post from Soccer Blogger.

Man City vs Tottenham 3-2 Goals Highlights 2012 Nasri Lescott Defoe Bale Balotelli penalty Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Man City vs Tottenham 3-2 Goals Highlights 2012 Nasri Lescott Defoe Bale Balotelli penalty Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Manchester City vs Tottenham 2012 ( Man City vs Spurs video below) Final score and result:- Man City vs Tottenham 3-2 ( S.

Manchester City went six points clear at the Barclays Premier League summit after a late penalty conversion from Mario Balotelli ensured a thrilling 3-2 win over a resilient Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

After a slow first half, the hosts came alive at the beginning of the second, with goals from Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott creating a comfortable two-goal cushion.

Arsenal relying on van Persie and midfield strength to beat Manchester United - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

In August Manchester United and Wayne Rooney inflicted a resounding 8-2 defeat on Arsenal, with Rooney netting a hat-trick. However, since then it is Robin van Persie who has lit up the Premier League.

Angry, frustrated, disappointed. Once again Arsenal fans are left let-down, once again we are promised things will change and once again it is groundhog season for Arsenal, and we haven't even entered the annual departures of the close season.

Where do we start? It is obvious that things went wrong in the summer with Wenger anticipating that both Nasri and Fabregas will not leave these were the hopes of a man living in a dream land.

Two Liverpool fans spot Samir Nasri on the road and give him a proper ribbing.

Steven Gerrard gives Liverpool the edge at 13mins

Liverpool will go to the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final with a 1 goal advantage. A penalty given away by Stefan Savic's foul on Daniel Agger, appearing to be slight accidental contact, however there was no questioning the decision.

Video- Glen Johnson tackle on Joleon Lescott two footed challenge Carling Cup Liverpool Man City is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Video- Glen Johnson tackle on Joleon Lescott two footed challenge Carling Cup Liverpool Man City is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter This Glen Johnson tackle on Joleon Lescott ( video below) was the subject of a fierce debate between Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard and Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini after [.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

With Liverpool given a boost following the refusal of the FA hearing committee to reduce or resind Vincent Kompany's four game ban, plus the the lose of Yaya & kolo Toure's participation at The African Nation's Cup. Kenny Dalglish's team have a great opportunity to progress to the Carling Cup final.
We still have to be at our best to beat these guys as the likes of Nasri and Balotteli lie waiting in the wings.

2:45pm ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
0-3 City (a) 01.03.12
1-1 (h) 11.27.11
3-0 Liverpool (h) 04.11.11
0-3 City (a) 08.23.10
Previous rounds:
Liverpool: 2-1 Chelsea (a); 2-1 Stoke (a); 2-1 Brighton (a); 3-1 Exeter (a)
City: 1-0 Arsenal (a); 5-2 Wolves (a); 2-0 Brum (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 5-1 Oldham (h); 0-3 City (a); 3-1 Newcastle (h)
City: 2-3 United (h); 3-0 Liverpool (h); 0-1 Sunderland (a)
Goalscorers (Carling Cup):
Liverpool: Suarez 3; Maxi 2; Bellamy, Carroll, Kelly, Kuyt 1
City: Dzeko 2; Agüero, Balotelli, Johnson, Hargreaves, Nasri 1
Referee: Lee Mason
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Spearing Adam
Bellamy Gerrard Downing
Carroll
Yes, it's the Carling Cup.

Part 3 of the review, coming right at you.

Aaron Ramsey
Stats: 22 appearances (3 sub appearances), 6.71 average rating, 2 goals, 6 assists, 2 yellow cards.

On his first full season since coming back from the Shawcross Special, Ramsey found himself as our main playmaker with Wilshere's injury and Cesc's and Nasri's exits.

If it had not been for such a difficult start to the season, Arsenal would now be fighting for the title.

And, that includes the loss of points against Wolves at home (unfortunate) and Fulham away (well deserved). The last few games have been disappointing, but Arsenal have gathered 29 points in their last 13 games and during the process it was able to pre-qualify for the CL against a very good Udinese, and win their CL-group against strong opposition with style and dominance.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

3pm ET, live in the US on espn2.
Last four head-to-head:
1-1 (h) 10.27.11
3-0 Liverpool (h) 04.11.10
0-3 City (a) 08.23.09
0-0 (a) 02.21.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 3-1 Newcastle (a); 0-0 Wigan (a); 2-0 Villa (a)
City: 0-1 Sunderland (a); 0-0 West Brom (a); 3-0 Stoke (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Suarez 5; Bellamy 4; Adam, Carroll, Gerrard, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Henderson, Johnson 1
City: Agüero 13; Dzeko 10; Balotelli 8; Johnson, Silva 5; Kompany, Milner, Nasri, Y Toure 2; Barry, Kolarov, Richards, Savic 1
Referee: Mike Jones
Yes, again.

As City wheel and deal in another transfer window, Samir Nasri falls further down the pecking order. And he just joined. Think how early-adopter Wayne Bridge feels.

It's hard to watch several leagues simultaneously, which somewhat tempers the distaste for the phenomenon of sugardaddied Manchester City and makes the team an intriguing entity to behold.

By Alan Duffy

Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City Premier League 1st January 2012

After seeing Manchester United and Chelsea both lose, and Tottenham drop two points at the Liberty Stadium, the scene was set at the Stadium of Light for Manchester City's diamond-encrusted side to move ahead in the race for the title.

szólj hozzá: Sunderland v City 1:0 HIGHLIGH

Sunderland continued the theme of the underdogs upsetting the favourites this weekend as they stunned City at the Stadium of Light with as Ji Dong-won's last second goal. Clearly offside. But the Black Cats won't be complaining. And it was a lovely bit of skill by the South Korean as he slalomed around Joe Hart to caress the ball into an open goal.

Luka Modric, perhaps the stand out performer of this English Premier League season so far, has said he might leave Tottenham during the January transfer window, although he is more likely to reconsider his position at the end of the campaign. The speculation began when Luka Modric's agent suggested that his client might leave Tottenham in January because "in football anything is possible".

Now that we're at the halfway mark, it becomes the duty of Arsenal bloggers to write about how things have gone up to this point in the season, and how things are likely headed in the future. Since opinions are probably even more diverse than ever this year, I thought it would be fun to write two completely different midseason reviews.

So here we are, nearly halfway through the 2011-12 season. Arsenal have play 17 league matches with Wolves coming up next on Tuesday. It was originally scheduled for Monday on Boxing Day, but due to the London Tub Strike, it has been rescheduled. The halfway mark of the season has QPR coming to the Emirates and but this time we hope to have completed the mid-season review.

How's your luck, eh? Pretty impressive at City and get nowt. Pretty ordinary at Villa and sneak a win. That's football, though, right? At least we battled on last night and were trying for force the victory until the death. What is it AW says about spirit? Well, we've got plenty of it anyway.

How's your luck, eh? Pretty impressive at City and get nowt. Pretty ordinary at Villa and sneak a win. That's football, though, right? At least we battled on last night and were trying for force the victory until the death. What is it AW says about spirit? Well, we've got plenty of it anyway.

How's your luck, eh? Pretty impressive at City and get nowt. Pretty ordinary at Villa and sneak a win. That's football, though, right? At least we battled on last night and were trying for force the victory until the death. What is it AW says about spirit? Well, we've got plenty of it anyway.

How's your luck, eh? Pretty impressive at City and get nowt. Pretty ordinary at Villa and sneak a win. That's football, though, right? At least we battled on last night and were trying for force the victory until the death. What is it AW says about spirit? Well, we've got plenty of it anyway.