SoccerBlogs

In the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season, only two sides managed to keep clean sheets across eight fixtures, once again highlighting the value for entertainment held in the English top flight.

With Arsenal, Manchester City and newly-crowned FA Cup champions Wigan Athletic still to feature in this week's meetings, the action doesn't look likely to stop there, either.

Manchester United's striker shortlist to replace wantaway Wayne Rooney - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney is reportedly eager to leave the newly crowned Premier League champions this summer, with the striker claimed to want a fresh start. Although the Red Devils are thought to want to keep the England international, a move abroad may well be on the cards.

Manchester United best-placed to dominate English football - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United have posted third-quarter revenues of £91.7 million a record for the club. Significant sponsorships deals and the club's huge fanbase pose as catalysts for the financial prowess, which keeps the new Premier League champions in a position to dominate English football for years to come.

Robin van Persie of Manchester United (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

When Robin Van Persie first joined Manchester United he took the number 20 kit that had once been worn by Fabio da Silva before he went out on loan prior to the arrival of RVP.

However, the departure of Dimitar Berbatov has left the number nine kit available for the Dutch striker that has more than taken over the vacated place of the Bulgarian hit man.

'Tweaking' Manchester United what Sir Alex Ferguson will be doing this summer - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United are in a comfortable position financially and on the pitch to not resort to the 'no value in the market' line any more.

That's why every time the club talks about transfers they are keen to emphasise that the money is available (and the transfer fees in recent years Robin van Persie, Shinji Kagawa, Phil Jones, David De Gea are a testament to that), although they also insist that the team doesn't need a massive overhaul.

Oscar of Chelsea (Google Creative Commons)

Following on from their 5-2 aggregate victory over FC Basel during midweek, Chelsea can only hope to build on their Europa League final berth by recording what might be an even more impressive win at Manchester United this weekend.

By now, the two teams are very well acquainted having met on no less than four occasions this season, Sunday's fixture at Old Trafford being the fifth.

Robin Van Persie of Manchester United (Image via ABC.au)

Manchester United host Chelsea on Sunday in which should feature plenty of goals for both sets of supporters in attendance at Old Trafford. Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck and captain Nemanja Vidic are all unlikely to feature at the weekend as all are injured, while Young suffered a more severe season ending ankle injury back in the Manchester Derby.

Gareth Bale has been named Player of the Year by the Football Writers' Association, beating Robin van Persie and Juan Mata to the award. It's Bale's third award this season after recently winning the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards.

There were also a wide range of votes for the likes of Everton defender Leighton Baines, Pablo Zabaleta of Manchester City, Swansea forward Michu, Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick and Southampton frontman Rickie Lambert," said a report.

Danny Welbeck had a mixed season for Manchester United and, like Chicharito, has paid the price for us signing a world class striker, Robin van Persie.

Welbeck has started just 12 league games this season, compared to the 23 he started last year, and in lots of those games he has been played out of position.

United is taking things seriously: Manchester United has won the Premier League title, but Sir Alex Ferguson is still chewing gum, still yelling at officials, and still twisting his face into new and exciting expressions of disgust. United isn't taking it easy. On Sunday, Robin van Persie (13.

Is Manchester United's victory symptomatic of a Premier League in decline? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The champions wrapped up the Barclay's Premier League comprehensively with four games to spare, but does the nature of their victory signify a shift in power away from England?

The pass and movement that made our goal

It won't be the most opportune of timings to write this match report today. With the amount of news, articles and blogs out there; what has and needed to be said should have already been available. If you're not sick of it yet, appreciate your continuation interest in this piece.

Patrice Evra has reiterated what we all knew, that Robin van Persie made the right decision in leaving Arsenal for United, and he has a league winners medal to prove it.

"People forget what he achieved for Arsenal," said Evra. "But he showed them that he hasn't made the wrong choice.

The rumor mill certainly gets around in today's media driven society where footballers are constantly criticized for their lack of form, inability to produce the "desirable" numbers, and whether or not specific players will be moving on during the transfer window. Manchester United's long-time star, Wayne Rooney has come up in many of these transfer talks as the summer nears; however, the rumors seem to be just that rumors.

Robin van Persie looked absolutely delighted to win the Premier League and so he should, after spending eight years at Arsenal and winning just one trophy, the FA Cup in 2005.

Last night thousands upon thousands of people lined the streets of Manchester to welcome our trophy back. Van Persie was made up to be a part of it.

On the heels of the rumor that Sir Alex Ferguson is about to retire, John Cross in the Mirror writes that Wayne Rooney is on his way to Bayern Munich.

According to the piece, Wayne Rooney has told team-mates he wants to sign for Bayern Munich this summer at that Bayern will meet United's asking price of £30m for the United striker.

Watch this must-see video montage of some of the most memorable moments from the 2012-13 Premier League season.

The BBC created this 3 minute video that includes a lot of familiar faces from all of the clubs in the EPL. You've got Luis Suarez, Michu, Robin van Persie, Paolo Di Canio and so many more.

Wenger Not Leaving Arsenal; Could Stay Beyond 2014

Arsene Wenger has denied that he would leave Arsenal this summer and hinted that he could even extend his current deal, which only has one more year remaining after this one.

It was recently speculated that the Gunners boss could leave the North London club at the end of the season to join Paris Saint-Germain.

So the melodrama is over.

Brave Sir Robin returned to the club that stood faithfully by his side in sickness and in, er, more sickness.

He walked on to the pitch through a guard of honour. He got booed by most of the home supporters. He took a few kicks and gave a few kicks. He scored.

So the melodrama is over.

Brave Sir Robin returned to the club that stood faithfully by his side in sickness and in, er, more sickness.

He walked on to the pitch through a guard of honour. He got booed by most of the home supporters. He took a few kicks and gave a few kicks. He scored.

By DAN KARELL

For just the third time in history, one player has bagged both the Professional Footballers Association Player and Young Player of the Year awards in a season.

Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder Gareth Bale has achieved the feat, winning the PFA Player of the Year award for the second time in three seasons after scoring 19 goals in 29 Premier League matches this season, .

Rio Ferdinand has voiced the opinion of football fans when claiming that the voting system for the PFA Award is flawed. With the votes cast months before the season has even finished, it often isn't a true reflection of the best player.

Robin van Persie is the top scorer in the country with 25 goals and lead United to win the 20th title, but the vote was taken during his goal drought, allowing Gareth Bale to scoop the prize.

The sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United that Arsenal were cornered into last summer has been a shadow over the club all season. On Sunday, they gave Man United a guard of honor before their match as Van Persie's new club has already sealed the Premier League title — an achievement aided by Van Persie's league-leading 25 goals — while Arsenal sit fourth in the table.

For many football fans and bettors it was just inevitable that Robin van Persie would somehow manage to find the back of the net for Man United on his return to the Emirates on April 27. They were right. The Dutch striker was chopped down in the penalty area by Bacary Sagna after he gifted him with the ball just before halftime and hammered the ball into the net on the ensuing penalty.

Robin van Persie has gone public to dispel the City myth and has claimed that Manchester is 80/20 red to blue.

"I have to say, I spoke to Nigel De Jong a couple of years ago when he was playing for City and he said ‘in Manchester, you only have City fans'," Robin explained. "I said ‘Okay that sounds a bit weird but whatever' and he claimed United fans are from all over the world, and from different cities.

Robin van Persie has had to wait a long time to call himself a champion, but just eight months at United was long enough to do the trick. When asked by the official site whether winning the league feels as good as he expected, he claims it feels even better.

"It's even nicer," he said.

Chris Smalling has hailed the signing of Robin van Persie, claiming that he had an impact on his team mates from the first training session.

"It's his overall approach and the way he goes about things," Smalling told the official site. "You can just tell he's top class. I remember when he first joined in training and everyone got a lift from that.