Just two points separate Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League and a win on Monday is crucial for either side to make a charge for the top six. Liverpool sit seventh, five points behind sixth-placed Arsenal while West Brom are ninth. The reverse fixture this season was on the opening day, and West Brom slaughtered the Reds 3-0.
Arsenal's new boys can help fans forget RVP and Song against Stoke - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
The first Sky televised game on Sunday sees Stoke take on Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium, and the
visitors look bankers at 2.1 with bet365 and Paddy Power to come away with all three points.
ESPN's live coverage of the opening day of the 2012-13 Premier League soccer season saw a 48%
increase in the number of TV viewers compared to its average last season. The live broadcast of
Arsenal against Sunderland was seen by ...
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In the latest instalment of Wayne Rooney's autobiography, which is currently being printed in
The Mirror, our striker reflects on his red card at the World Cup in 2006. Ronaldo was one of five
Portuguese players who was complaining to the ref but the press in this country blamed him not only
for Rooney's red card, but for England's exit from the tournament, despite the game finishing in a
draw and Gerrard, Lampard and Carragher all missing their penalties.
Manchester United recovered from an opening day loss to Everton with a 3-2 win over visiting
Fulham. Sir Alex Ferguson made changes after the disappointing first game, including dropping Wayne
Rooney to the bench, while Van Persie gets his first club start. Meanwhile, Fulham came into the
game after beating Norwich City 5-0 to open [.
The close season is traditionally a time where clubs jettison their weak players, replacing
them with footballers with the skill to take the club one step further, whether that be to qualify
or European competition or avoid another year's relegation struggle. With that in mind I thought it
would be interesting to see which clubs decided a wholesale change would be preferable to keeping
faith with the players who toiled their way through the 2011/2012 season.
West Brom got off to a good start to the season, beating a lacklustre Liverpool 3-0, whilst Spurs
got off to a somewhat promising start but lost 2-1 to a luck-riding resilient Newcastle.
In a nutshell, the West Brom fan forums are of the view that they have got slightly stronger since
last season, whilst Spurs with the loss of Modric (he's dead to me), have got slightly weaker.
Liverpool may have to accept a substantial loss on Andy Carroll, as Newcastle United refuse to
offer more than £12 million for the striker, reports suggest.
Liverpool have placed a £20 million price tag on the man they signed from the Magpies a year and a
half ago, but Alan Pardew and the Newcastle United hierarchy have no intention of matching that
fee, the Daily Mail report.
Pies are well aware that we're a little tardy to the party with this one, but as I was out
reveling in Forest managing to score on the opening day of the season for the first time in SIX
YEARS on Saturday afternoon, I happened to miss the Newcastle-Tottenham game.
Alan Pardew is set for a three-match touchline ban after pushing assistant referee Peter Kirkup
during Newcastle's opening day win over Tottenham. The Magpies boss was unhappy that a throw-in had
not been awarded during a Spurs attack as he believed the ball had gone out of play. Referee Lee
Mason immediately sent him to [.
Newcastle to dominate Aston Villa - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Newcastle look a cracking bet at 1.62 with bet365 and Betfred to beat Aston Villa at St James'
Park.
Alan Pardew's men Newcastle have lost just one of their last 11 Premier League home games (W8 D2
L1), whereas Villa have won none of their last nine away matches (W0 D4 L5) a run which started
with defeat at this ground.
This Sunday's trip to Anfield represents the most difficult challenge for Arsene Wenger's
Arsenal but the Frenchman is still looking forward to playing a Liverpool side that is likely to
seek all three points.
Both clubs have yet to win following their first two Premier League matches, with the Gunners
drawing goalless against both Sunderland and Stoke City.
Talking Tactics: How is Brendan Rodgers changing the philosophy at Liverpool? is a post from:
Just Football
Brendan Rodgers' Anfield career has already been an eventful one. Liverpool put
behind them a humiliating 3-0 defeat at West Brom on the opening day of the Premier
League season, by recording a hard-fought 1-0 win away over Hearts in a Europa League
play-off match.
At least, we might surmise, the waves of panic might be starting to recede from lapping against
the walls of Anfield now. On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool put in about as complete a performance as
could have been hoped for considering their wretched start to the season against West Bromwich
Albion eight days previously in holding Manchester City to a two-all draw in front of the
television cameras.
Following two successive victories to start the season, Everton manager David Moyes has hailed
his current squad as one of the best he's seen at Goodison Park in quite some time. The blue half
of Merseyside can be thrilled with their side's rampant start to the season, including an opening
day win against giants Manchester United.
Norwich City 1-1 Queens Park Rangers Premier League 25 August 2012
Both sides came into this game on the back of heavy opening day defeats, but ultimately they
would have to be satisfied with a share of the points after a fairly close contest.
Brendan Rodgers does not want his Liverpool team to rely on goals from their strikers this
season.
The Reds manager says there is a need for all his outfield players to contribute, and he is keen
for there to be less emphasis on the number of goals from his forwards.
Liverpool drew a blank in their defeat to West Brom on the opening day of the Premier League
season, and Rodgers says they cannot simply look to their strikeforce to open their account.
After a disappointing opening day result with positives at St James Park, Gareth
Johnson shares with THFC1882 his thoughts on the match as he watched from
the stands and what lies ahead this season for us.
The opening day of any season is always special for me.
Liverpool Football Club have decided not to appeal for Daniel Agger's sending off against West
Brom .
The Denmark international was given a straight red after fouling Shane Long during the Reds 3-0
opening day defeat at the Hawthorns.
Agger will now miss Liverpool's next premier league fixture against champions Manchester City
next Sunday but will be available for the tie against Arsenal the following week.
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger is considering appealing his red card in the opening day defeat to
West Brom.
Agger was shown a straight red card by referee Phil Dowd for giving away a penalty after appearing
to push Shane Long inside the box.
The Danish international was unhappy with the decision and insists he made no contact with Long.
Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle has described Jay Spearing as a 'wonderfully talented young
player' amid reports linking the Liverpool midfielder with a move to the Reebok Stadium.
The former Premier League club is known to be in the market for a defence-minded player in the
middle of the pitch and a miserable defeat by rivals Burnley on Saturday has potentially increased
their need.
Premier League 2012-13: Five key opening day talking points is a post from: Just Football
To fireworks, fanfare and an array of messages under shirts, the Premier League is back for
another season. Here are five key talking points from an entertaining weekend:
1) Goal difference could be huge in the relegation scrap
Four teams likely to be in a relegation scrap at the end of the year have already accumulated
significant goal differentials in their opening matches.
I have to say, the general pre-match feeling among the Arsenal fan-base was one of unprecedented
optimism; which was surprisingly heartening to see, after another summer which, on the face of it,
has been punctuated by the club selling important players to direct rivals and taking sideways
steps rather than forward ones.
In which Alan Partridge commentates on the opening day of the 2012/13 Premier League
season...
AP PL by SNV36
The keen-eyed among you will notice a startling similarity to Alan's inimitable promo for the
'94 USA World Cup. Here's the original to compare and contrast.
1. Members of the Manchester City Title Win Reenactment Society delivered a performance with the
sort of coordination that made the London 2012 opening ceremony look amateurish. Samir Nasri just
peaked a bit too soon. 2. With all the comparisons bring drawn between the Olympics and the Premier
League, it's hard to know why everyone [.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers felt harshly treated by referee Phil Dowd after seeing Liverpool
crash to a 3-0 defeat at West Brom on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League .
Dowd awarded two second-half penalties, the first of which also saw Daniel Agger red-carded and
the second awarded for Martin Skrtel's foul on Long which was tucked away by Peter Odemwingie.
QPR have written a formal complaint to Leeds United demanding an apology after 'keeper Paddy
Kenny allegedly sent 'abusive' text messages to QPR technical director Mike Rigg and chairman Tony
Fernandes or 'doing a Kevin Pietersen' as it's known in the trade.
Former QPR goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has been accused of drunken late night communication with his
ex-employers to gloat at their 5-0 opening day hammering against Swansea. QPR have made a formal
complaint to Kenny's new club Leeds after technical director Mike Rigg and chairman Tony Fernandes
reportedly received abusive text messages from Kenny.
No sympathy for QPR the second time on opening day. This time the Swans bollixed them, 5-0 as
Michu got a brace on his debut. The situation got dire and then just when it couldn't get worse,
great scott, they were sent clear with a fifth and final goal. Michael Laudrup could not have asked
for a better start from Brendan Rodgers's old team.
Mallorca, Sevilla, and Malaga all won in the opening day of matches in La Luga. There were only
three matches with the rest of the clubs starting their season on Sunday and Monday.
Below is the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) table through August 18, 2012.
Steven Gerrard insists there is no reason for Liverpool to panic despite their heavy opening day
defeat at West Bromwich Albion.
The Reds went down 3-0 at The Hawthorns, which was their heaviest opening day loss for 75
years.
Manager Brendan Rodgers refused to condemn his players after the match and Gerrard insists there is
no reason to get too upset.
Luis Suarez cannot deliver the goals Liverpool need to propel them to success, says Gary
McAllister.
After a 3-0 opening day defeat by West Brom, McAllister said his old side must become more clinical
in front of goal, or suffer like last season.
But he does not think they can rely on the Uruguayan, 25, to do that.
Seacoast United's Jacob Rosenkalt (14) kicks the ball upfield during the team's 1-1 draw against IMG Academy on Friday.
The 2012 Development Academy Winter Showcase kicked off Friday with 80 U-17/18 teams competing throughout the day at Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
After a horrid summer on the transfer market, after a dismal opening day defeat, the result in
Bologna came somewhat as a relief. It was not a routine win, by any accounts. It was tough and it
took more than a slice of fortune. But, it was still job done and it gave everyone at [...]
Fortuna Dusseldorf sub Dani Shahin scores a spectacular looping half volley against Augsburg
before scoring a second to give his team an opening day 2-0 win in the German Bundesliga.
It's back, baby. Whilst the rumblings of the transfer window continue to, errr, rumble, it is
very good to have some on pitch action to ruminate over again. Even if the result on the opening
day wasn't quite what we wanted, frankly I'm still happier than Andre Santos on half a gram of
MDMA. That said, as I alluded in the opening sentence, the spectre of the transfer window still
dominates conversation and that's a symptom of our ducks not quite being lined up yet.
It feels as though the new football season has started a little too soo this afternoon. A summer
which had rather looked as if it might not arrive at all has settled to a ninety degree heat from
which there is no respite, even in the shade. Even by the coast in Brighton, this is weather that
simply makes you want to curl up and fall asleep.
