The play-off draw was by no means easy on Republic of Ireland and they have only FIFA officials to thank to for pitting them against underperforming but still very strong France side. This is obviously going to be most interesting duel in the World Cup play-offs and while we have no doubts both sets of players will be extremely motivated, it is the coaches that have the power to win this game for their team.

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Premier League Team News - Barclays Premier League - ESPN SoccernetYou can check either the link above or yesterday's The Week Ahead post for a complete listing of those missing through suspension after the Premier League's refs. As I mentioned yesterday, the interesting opportunities that will result from suspensions are O'Shea being a line-up definite and Frazier Campbell deputizing for Click to continue reading...

Insert your own caption here
Let's get right to our favorite column of the week - the Premier League preview.
I. Manchester United @ Chelsea: The biggest match of the Premier League thus far this season sees Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney go head-to-head in Sunday's meeting at the top of the table. Click to continue reading...

Like so often it wasn't the greatest Manchester United performance but they did deserve the three points as Blackburn had made them fight hard for it. It was the inspirational Dimitar Berbatov who had carried United, demonstrating his tricks, flicks and of course a superb piece of individual skill which broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.

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After beating Barnsley 2-0 on Tuesday, Man United carries on with they're Premier League duty against Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford. Blackburn has been one of the main football clubs who have been suffering with Swine Flu (obviously not the club themselves but the players). Click to continue reading...

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has left Steve Finnan, Steven Reid, Andy Reid and Clinton Morrison out of his squad to face France in their World Cup 2010 qualifying play-off.
It had been rumoured that Finnan would be included to address issues with cover in defence. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool:

-Reina
Johnson-Carragher-Agger-Insua
Mascherano Lucas -
Benayoun Aurelio
-Kuyt -
Torres -

Bench: Cavalieri, Voronin, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Degen, Skrtel

Manchester United:

Van der Sar
O'Shea Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Valencia Carrick Scholes Giggs
Berbatov Rooney

Bench: Foster, Neville, Owen, Anderson, Nani, Fabio Da Silva, Jonathan Evans

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10am, live in the US on FSC
British Daylight Saving Time kicks in on Sunday, which is why the game's at 10. We'll catch up next week. I hate Winter Time so much.
Last 4 head-to-head:
4-1 Liverpool (a) 03.14.09
2-1 Liverpool (h) 09.13.08
0-3 United (a) 03.23. Click to continue reading...

United have got off to a good start to the season. We have suffered one defeat to Burnley and a draw to Sunderland, other than that we have won every single game we have played in all competitions. With a win tonight, United could be all but qualified for the next round of the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Shevchenko
Novakovic
Robbie Keane
Dzeko
Hoje pelas 14.00 horas locais, em Zurique, na Fifa House, terá lugar o sorteio para os play-off. Analisando cada um dos adversários e os seus principais jogadores, pode chegar-se à conclusão que a Eslovénia será teoricamente a equipa mais acessível. Click to continue reading...

Two dislocated fingers and a fractured bone in his hand, yup, he's in my team
After a mid-week of what some are calling quite "boring" Champions League fixtures, we return to domestic action this weekend, and to the fantasy Premier League. Last week, our gameweek "picks" - the best team money can buy for under 100M - put up another 78 points led by Bent (18) O'Shea (15) and Huddlestone (8), so let's see if we can keep the hot streak going. Click to continue reading...

Today Man United face German Champion's Wolfsburg at Old Trafford in the Champions League. Tonight's game could be a cracker, both teams like to attack and we could see plenty of goals.
Man United kicked off their Champion's League campaign with a 1-0 win over Besiktas in Istanbul. Click to continue reading...

Matchday Two of the Champions League is fast approaching and one thing for sure is that VfL Wolfsburg should provide something of a tougher test than United's previous opponents in the competition. Yes while Besiktas were plucky and persistent, the German champions are a far more accomplished outfit and you've probably heard that they're not too bad up front either.

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Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has announced a provisional 27 man squad for the upcoming World Cup group 8 qualifiers against Italy & Montenegro in Croke Park next month.
Goalkeepers
Shay Given, Manchester City
Keiren Westwood, Coventry City
Joe Murphy, Scunthorpe United
Defenders
John O'Shea, Manchester United
Kevin Foley, Wolves
Richard Dunne, Aston Villa
Stephen Kelly, Fulham
Kevin Kilbane, Hull City
Eddie Nolan, Preston North End
Sean St. Click to continue reading...

Who: Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers
What: The Carling Cup
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
When: Wednesday, August 23, 2009 (8:00 PM GMT or 3:00 PM EST)
Why: Because United must defend their title in a cup that no one (aside from nerdy bloggers such as myself) appears to really care all that much about.

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It was a tough game to take on Saturday. On seeing United's line-up I immediately felt we could win the game - Nani, Valencia, a fading Giggs, O'Shea, Carrick, Brown: these were players we could beat.
And so it initially appeared. In the opening half we dominated the game and deserved to go in ahead at the break. Click to continue reading...

A Diaby blunder gave Arsenal their first defeat of the season after the champions came from a goal down to win at Old Trafford.

Abou Diaby headed into his own net from a Ryan Giggs's free kick after Wayne Rooney levelled for United from the spot. Arshavin had broken the deadlock in the first half with a magnificent strike.

Click to continue reading...

Venue: Old Trafford Date: Saturday, 29 August Kick-off: 1715 BST

Form: Man Utd: WDWWLW Arsenal: LDWWDW

When Manchester United went to the Emirates last year to play their second leg of the Champions League semi final, the Red Devils expected a tricky night, but it was far from it, as they outclassed Arsenal in every department as the game was already over in the first eleven minutes.

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"4 Games, 12 Points" will be the headlines ringing around the Lane come 5pm tomorrow. I don't know what the odds are, but I am sure they're stacked in our favour.
I can see Birmingham trying to get in our faces during the first 15 minutes. You can also expect Alex McLeish to pack his midfield with Bowyer, O'Shea, Larsson, Ferguson and Carsley with McFadden playing up front on his own, but dropping back when needed, which may be the majority of the time tomorrow. Click to continue reading...

Ireland under-21 manager Don Givens has named an 18-man squad for next month's European Championship qualifier in Tallinn against Estonia.
Histon's Lanre Oyebanjo, James McKeown of Peterborough United and Aston Villa's James Collins are included in the squad for the first time. Click to continue reading...

One in, one out.
Not much new news this morning, the latest being the casualties from yesterday's Europa League matches. Those claimed Andy Johnson and will force Jack Rodwell and Steven Pienaar into the dreaded "late fitness test".
Spurs have lost Gomes for a while and so Cudicini will sit behind their make-shift back line. Click to continue reading...

The second gameweek in this season's English Premiership Fantasy Football comes in just few days after the first, so be sure you remember to check your team for transfers and a captain change if the need occurs.
As said earlier this gameweek is a little tricky because only 12 teams have fixtures this week of English Premier League.

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What now? Because Cristiano Ronaldo ain't walkin' back through that door. The answer seems to be for everyone else to step up their game just a bit. I'm not sure that is a viable strategy. Or a strategy at all. So where does that leave fantasy managers who have always relied on Manchester United players for big returns? Click to continue reading...

No. 1 for England? You wouldn't start on my Sunday League team in L.A., mate
The countdown to the season is truly on now - just five days to go, and we got a taste of what's to come yesterday as Chelsea took down Manchester United in the Community Shield on penalties. I watched the match with pen and paper in hand - and here are some of my player specific reactions and ratings - on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Click to continue reading...

Interesting to see Chelsea line up with Ivanovic starting at right back with no apparent injury to Bosignwa. Combine that with Bayern Munich's pursuit of Bosingwa over the summer (that was never really shouted down by anyone at Chelsea) and we might have a bargain defender in the making.
Zhirkov doesn't even make the bench as he recovers from a knee injury. Click to continue reading...

The post Cristiano Ronaldo era ends. The Ancelotti reign begins. The Michael Owen experiment will get proof tested. Lots of little subtexts to the Community Shield match which takes place today at Wembley. Kick off at 1500 BST

Chelsea's attack will be without the services of Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov, out through injury.

Click to continue reading...

What, me Worry?
The best team in England is just getting weaker by the day this summer. Surely, every football fan expects title holders Manchester United to remain as firm favorites when the Premier League returns this month, but I'm a bit worried.
News today emerged that Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic will miss the start of the season with a calf injury. Click to continue reading...

The 2009 Audi Cup final took place on Thursday with German side Bayern Munich taking on English team Manchester United. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Bayern Munich defeats Manchester United 0-0 (7-6 on penalties) Video Highlights

Bayern Munich won the 2009 Audi Cup with a 7-6 win on penalty kicks against Manchester United.

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Manchester United began their preseason with a tour of Asia and two matches against the Malaysia XI (National Team). Here's a recap and video highlights of both matches.

Manchester United beats Malaysia XI 3-2 - Video Highlights - Man United took an early lead on goals from Wayen Rooney and Nani but had to rely on a Michael Owen goal to secure the victory.

Click to continue reading...

More expensive than starter Michael Carrick (15M). Check.
More expensive than starter Antonio Valencia (16M). Check.
Yup, midfielder Owen Hargreaves cost United 17M pounds, and he hasn't featured in a year.
But according to Sir Alex Ferguson, Hargreaves is nearing a first team return.
This news should be of interest not only to United fans but also to fantasy footie managers intent on splashing the cash on the aforementioned Valencia (8. Click to continue reading...

With all a bit more quiet on the Arsenal front, I thought I would keep this week's post a bit more general, with a look at several bits of news that have caught my eye.

Eboue and Felipe Melo

When Fiorentina declared that they were in talks to sell Felipe Melo to Arsenal with Emmanuel Eboue going the other way, I was a bit shocked by my reaction.

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I play harder on my Sunday team than United did in Rome. If any player walks off that pitch with any energy at all, having lost the game, then they fucked up. There is no reason to have any energy left in a losing effort in the final of the Champions League. Michael Carrick was an absolute parody. Rooney had no guile. Click to continue reading...

(Barcellona-Manchester 1-0. Eto'o)
(2-0. Messi)
IL TABELLINO
Barcellona-Manchester Utd 2-0
Barcellona (4-3-3): Valdes; Puyol, Piqué, Touré, Sylvinho; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta (48' st Pedro Rodriguez sv); Messi, Eto'o, Henry (27' st Keita). A disp.: Pinto, Caceres, Muniesa, Krkic, Gudjohnsen. Click to continue reading...

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Good afternoon everybody. The match we have all been waiting for is here. Manchester United vs. FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final (2:30pm, ESPN).

The reigning champions from Manchester are back to defend their title against a Barcelona side considered the most dangerous in the world.

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I suppose you want to know who's going to win the Champions League final, or at least who I think it going to win (those two answers may not always match, of course)? Well come on in...
Man Utd will win 1-0 with a headed goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. There, my work is done.
Flippancy aside, that is my actual prediction for tonight's final in Rome. Click to continue reading...