Arsenal traveled to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, November 7, 2009 in the English Premier League. The Gunners were 3rd in the league table and could move into 2nd with a win. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Arsenal beats Wolverhampton 4-1 Video Highlights

Arsenal cruised to victory over Wolves on Saturday in the EPL.

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The US Under-17s are out of the Fifa U-17 World Cup after a tough loss to Italy.  I saw less of their World Cup play than I wanted, but a few thoughts remain hard to shake.

Maturity is over-rated at least in soccer.  The game against the UAE reminded me most why watching the occasional youth game is so refreshing: even in a pressure situation the 'kids' tend to play with an offense-first mindset and a penchant for flair that will very likely (and sadly) be taught out of them in the pro ranks.

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Whenever a ball goes into the stands during a match, I always wonder what would happen if the person who grabs it decides that he's keeping that sucker and that there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Well, that's exactly what happened during the Switzerland v Germany match at the U17 World Cup.

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The UEFA Europa League had a full set of group stage matches on Thursday, November 5, 2009 including Hamburg SV v Celtic. Here's a recap along with video highlights of the match.

Celtic draws with Hamburg 0-0 Video Highlights

Celtic had only one point heading into the match while Hamburg with second in the group with six points.

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Liverpool only managed a 1-1 draw away to Lyon tonight which may not be enough to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League. A depleted Liverpool team had most of the possession away to Lyon and had a few good attempts on goal saved by the Lyon keeper, until sub Ryan Babel scored with a magnificent thunderbolt shot on 83 mins to give the Reds a deserved lead. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal hosts AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 in the UEFA Champions League. The two teams played last matchday as Alkmaar scored a late goal to get a draw. Arsenal will be looking to get three points playing at home and to put them in great position to advance to the knockout stage. Here's a recap and video highlights of the match.

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Defending UEFA Champions League title holders FC Barcelona continued their 2009-10 season with a trip to face FK Rubin Kazan. In the last round the Russian club shocked Barcelona with a 2-1 win. Was Barcelona able to get some revenge or did Rubin Kazan get another surprise result? Here's a recap of the Wednesday, November 4, 2009 match along with video highlights.

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In the end it was a draw and a result that was probably fair for both sides. For sure Real had numerous more attempts on goal but most of these were long range efforts that barely troubled the somewhat sporadic Dida. And, for sure Real dominated possession especially in the first half yet for all [.. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League had a full set of group stage matches on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 including AC Milan hosting Real Madrid at the San Siro. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

AC Milan draws with Real Madrid 1-1 Video Highlights

Real Madrid started the match with most of the possession and chances early.

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The UEFA Champions League had a full set of group stage matches on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 including Chelsea traveling to play Atletico Madrid in Spain. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Chelsea draws with Atletico Madrid 2-2 Video Highlights

It was a quick start as Atletico Madrid came out with confidence playing at home.

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There aren't many things worse than what's happened to our club over the past week or so, and I was hoping that it wouldn't have too much of an impact on the NUFC players. Fortunately (and rather fortuitously), they battled to a hard fought victory over Sheffield United.

The Blades made the Newcastle players work hard for this victory, which on another day, could so easily have gone against us.

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Happy Monday to you. It's always good starting a new week when Arsenal won. It's even better when that happens against Tottenham. After 2 consecutive draws, Arsenal maintains their 100% winning record at Ashburton Grove with a comprehensive victory against a side who started the week mouthing off about how great their team are, but has now gone home with their heads firmly between their legs.

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The only rival or derby match in the first round of the Major League Soccer Playoffs kicked off on Sunday as the LA Galaxy played Chivas USA. Both teams play at the Home Depot Center and are in based in Los Angeles. Who won the match? Here's a recap along with video highlights of the match.

Los Angeles Galaxy draws with Chivas USA 2-2 Video Highlights (will be added shortly)

1st Half

The match started out with chances for both teams but Chivas USA would strike first.

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After a tough start against Spain the United States' U17 side was able to stack up 1 0 wins against Malawi and the United Arab Emirates. The United States will advance after securing second place in their group. A skillful side that is able to move the ball around and keep possession, the United States kids have drawn criticism from some for lacking a clinical finishing edge, but they seem to excel at moving the ball around (something we haven't been able to say about many US sides).

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After a tough start against Spain the United States' U17 side was able to stack up 1 0 wins against Malawi and the United Arab Emirates. The United States will advance after securing second place in their group. A skillful side that is able to move the ball around and keep possession, the United States kids have drawn criticism from some for lacking a clinical finishing edge, but they seem to excel at moving the ball around (something we haven't been able to say about many US sides).

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There are many components to good team defense as well as to individual defensive skills. As soon as the opponent gains possession of the ball, the team is on defense, and the defenders must be especially aware and prepared as an offensive attack approaches their own goal. After a transition (one team switching to offense while another switches to defense) the first responsibility of the defense is to get between the ball and the goal. Click to continue reading...

Is this the vision of Pep you would expect to see on what he should have been celebrating as his 500th day coaching Barca? It did turn out to be a memorable night... but not in a good way.
We dropped two points last night when we should have come off with all three. We can't help but be annoyed by this, for several reasons. Click to continue reading...

Jack McInerney and the US take on UAE

USA vs UAE, Ijebu Ode, 1 November 2009, 16:00 (local time)

Follow the match on ESPNU, ESPN360.com and Galavision starting at 10 AM.

The final day of the World Cup U-17 group stage.

A US win will get them into the last 16.

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FC Barcelona takes on Osasuna looking to keep their lead atop the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga) table. Who won the match and was Barcelona able to win or did Osasuna get an upset? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

FC Barcelona draws with Osasuna 1-1 Video Highlights

Barcelona once again dominated possession as they usually do every match but couldn't score in the first half.

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Real Madrid takes on Getafe looking to keep pace with FC Barcelona in the La Liga on Saturday, October 31, 2009. Were they able to win or did Getafe score an upset? Here's a recap along with video highlights of the match.

Real Madrid defeat Getafe 2-0 Video Highlights

Real Madrid did not start out strong as the match was scoreless through 15 minutes.

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Liverpool traveled to play Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday, October 31, 2009. After their huge win last weekend against Manchester United, Liverpool looks to continue their recent good form.

Fulham beats Liverpool 3-1 Video Highlights

1st Half

Liverpool started out dominating possession and chances in the match.

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That could not have gone much better. We may have answered some questions today. For one thing, of our previous 6 wins, they have all been over bottom half of the table clubs. We just beat a club sitting 4th in the table, and we did so convincingly. It was also great, given our recent struggles holding onto leads, to see Arsenal finish off a game instead of sitting on the lead, we grew stronger and more dominant as the game went along.

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The north London derby of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in recent years has been one of the marquee matches in the English Premier League. Both clubs have looked strong in the 2009-10 season and Saturday's match took place at the Emirates. Here's a recap of the EPL matches from Saturday, October 31, 2009 along with video highlights.

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This week it's the turn of women to take part in World cup qualifiers, there's a huge surprise in Spain and a prison sentence for Premier League footballer All these stories and more feature in this week's podcast. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

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FEATURED POSTS Download the latest podcast here Listen to the main report here Read the review of the football week in the good, the bad and the ugly Read our fabulous Glossary of footballing phrases Listen to something from our back catalogue: Local Derbies

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PREDICTION

This week's featured match is Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur

Damon: 2-1 | Damian: 1-1 | Guest: 3-0 Check the rest of this weekend's predictions here

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FOOTBALL EXPRESSION

This week's English for football expression is the phrase smash and grab.

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Referee Abdul Malik made a brave decision to carry on the match despite the heavy downpour (as pictured above) that started prior to the start of this live televised game.
Frankly, this fixture would have been a title decider perfectly fit for this season's finale, but it wasn't the case after all. Click to continue reading...

Blood, noise, yellow cards and a disputed whistle outnumbered scoring chances as expansion Seattle made its MLS postseason debut with a scoreless tie against the more experienced and bullish Houston Dynamo on Thursday night.
Seattle couldn't take advantage of dominating possession, or the energy created by 35,807 fans at Qwest Field. Click to continue reading...

I'd planned to write a full match report for the Arsenal vs Liverpool Carling Cup game I went to last night, but there's not much to write. For a League Cup fixture it wasn't a bad game at all, with two excellent goals and quality throughout. But most of the things I could write about either side have been written plenty of times before. Click to continue reading...

For the second game in a row, Honduras held their own at the U-17 World Championships in Nigeria. Unfortunately, for the second time in a row they lost, this time to the host team by the minimum. The match told the tale of a Honduran side that were organized in the back but couldn't generate sustained possession in their opponent's half. Click to continue reading...

Cavalieri
Degen Skrtel Kyrgiakos Insua
Spearing Plessis
Kuyt Voronin Babel
Ngog
Goals:
Merida 19'
Insua 26'
Bendtner 50'
Any loss is disappointing, especially when the team's already lost six, but this one doesn't sting too bad. Arsenal, with Nasri, Bendtner, and Eduardo in the line-up, didn't exactly play the Super Teens, and probably deserved their victory. Click to continue reading...

Ryan Johnson was one of the few bright spots for San Jose in 2009. (Getty Images)

It's hard to decline as a club after being an expansion team in 2008 but the 2009 version of the San Jose Earthquakes did just that. They became the first team to lose more in their second season than in their expansion season.

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The Spanish Copa del Rey began its fourth round on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 with four matches. One of them was Real Madrid traveling to face Alcercon who plays in the Segunda or 2nd tier of Spain. Madrid were the favorites heading into the match and started most of their top stars. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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Don't forget to refresh the page!

Barnsley 0-1 Manchester United

29′ Home crowd starting to make some noise. Not much, but it's still noise. Bogdanovic and Macken have been superb so far. Another chance as I write. Anderson da Silva heads over.

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Seriously? "The problem in our league isn't who is or isn't in the playoffs; it's that not enough people want to watch our league yet, and we have to convince them that our league is worth watching. I don't think [playing conservatively] is the way... Click to continue reading...

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The U.S. Under-17 national team kicks off its Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria today against Spain (2pm, ESPNU).

I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

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Firstly credit to Stoke. They work on a shoestring budget in comparison to us and they are consolidating their position as solid Premier League side. Unfortunately, the result did nothing for Spurs chances of consolidating their position in the top 4!

I don't think you can criticise Harry's tactics or the Tottenham performance as a whole.

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