According to Peter O'Rourke at Sky Sports News, Everton and Birmingham are both interested in Standard Liege striker Milan Jovanovic. Jovanovic's contract ends after the season so the club might decide to cash in on him in January.

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Well, I just finished gnashing my teeth, rending my clothes, and dropping down to my knees, head thrust upward, yelling "Why, God? Why?!" I think now I can almost think rationally about this.

The big news is that the injury is not quite as bad as it had been first thought. Originally, everyone was reporting 2-3 months, some of the more sensationalist English papers were saying out for the season.

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by CARL ELDRIDGE I am only guessing here but surely to heaven this picture is a result of the upcoming Children in Need campaign. The snap dropped into our mailbox and we thought, you know what, let's see just how inventive you lot can be. So, I have a spare ticket for the Arsenalv Standard Liege Champions League game later this month at the Emirates and I'll give it to the best caption sent in to us here at arsenalinsider by the end of the week.

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by CARL ELDRIDGE Nasty old November has never been too kind to the Gunners under our esteemed leader's reign and this morning's Mirror claims the Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is desperate to break the curse.

It claims the Frenchman has claimed that this month will be decisive in determining whether Arsenal can maintain their challenge for the Premier League title and, in particular, avoid injuries which have hurt them badly in the past.

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Liverpool was so close to victory yesterday in Lyon. After giving Lyon their best for 83 minutes, a Ryan Babel wonder goal broke the deadlock, handing Rafa and the Reds a lifeline in Group E. A win against the French powerhouse would throw them back in the thick of things. But it was not to be, as Lisandro Lopez capitalized on some poor Liverpool defending to snatch a 1-1 draw that sealed Lyon's passage to the knockout stage.

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Liverpool was so close to victory yesterday in Lyon. After shutting out Les Gones for 83 minutes, a Ryan Babel wonder goal broke the deadlock, handing Rafa and the Reds a lifeline in Group E. A win against the French powerhouse would throw them back in the thick of things. But it was not to be, as Lisandro Lopez capitalized on some poor Liverpool defending to snatch a 1-1 draw that sealed Lyon's passage to the knockout stage.

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Group E
Lyon 1-1 Liverpool -- The Reds took a late lead on a wonder-strike by Ryan Babel, but Rafa's side was pushed to the brink of elimination by an even-later Lisandro López equalizer. When is Rafa getting fired again?
Fiorentina 5-2 Debrecen -- The Italians had an offensive explosion, including four goals in the second half, in the easy home win. Click to continue reading...

by CARL ELDRIDGE Lots of purring in the papers this morning after the glorious Gunners hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-1 with some exquisite football to take us to the brink of the last 16 in the Champions League.

In the Sun this morning, Arsene Wenger says he has his best-ever strike force. He said: "We've never had as many options on the creative side.

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Free-scoring Arsenal continued their dominance of Champions League Group H with a stunning 4-1 drubbing of AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night.
The Gunners are in top spot and unbeaten in their group, and proved far too classy for the Dutch visitors at The Emirates, where skipper Cesc Fabregas bagged a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby, who netted a sublime fourth of the night on 72 minutes after some flowing build-up play from Eduardo and Andrey Arshavin. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League wrapped up match day four on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 with eight matches. There were some key matches as teams are needing results with only the top two teams in each group advancing to the knockout stage. Here's a recap of all the matches along with video highlights.

UEFA Champions League Recap Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Liverpool failed to win and their chances of advancing out the group stage took a major hit.

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Belgian side Standard grabbed their first win of the competition with this victory over Olympiakos.

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1-0 Mbokani

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

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Late notice on this one thanks to the dunderheads at Comcast and some other issues beyond my control, so as a result, everyone who posts any pick at all gets 10 bonus points today.
Decent lineup of matches in the Champions League today, and like yesterday, these are the reverse fixtures of Matchday 3. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal vs AZ Alkmaar

AZ Alkmaar have made the short trip to London to take on Arsenal looking to build on their surprise 1-1 draw out in Holland last time out. A furious Arsene Wenger will be out to tighten up his leaky defence and see the job done in a week where he spoke about his desire to win the Champions League trophy.

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Arsenal have been rocked by the news that left back Gael Clichy is reportedly set to be out of action for close to a month after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back. Clichy will therefore miss Arsenal's next two European games against AZ and Standard Liege and the Gunners' Premier League fixtures against [. Click to continue reading...

With Rangers getting closer and closer to almost becoming Leeds United, maybe its time for both Celtic and Rangers to run away from the Scottish Premier League and head for greener pastures. Rangers 's club's bankers Lloyds are owed £30million by the end of the campaign. With a TV contract that is nothing to celebrate the only way that they maybe be able to meet the payment is to sell half of the first team. Click to continue reading...

In whose hands is the future of Arsenal? Â This is the question we have all been asking. Â Almunia was the number one, but a mystery "chest" infection which has taken a long time to clear up ahs given the third choice keeper Mannone a chance, Fabianski is back from injury and should feature tonight against Liverpool.

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A host of Premier League clubs are said to be chasing Standard Liege striker Dieumerci M'Bokani, according to reports in Belgium.
The Congo international has been linked with a move to Manchester United in the past while Blackburn, Liverpool and Arsenal are all said to be monitoring his progress. Click to continue reading...

Almost half way through the group stage and things are hotting up. While some teams go from bad to worse, others look to cement themselves in a qualification place before reaching the last two games. Arsenal, though, could only manage a draw away to AZ Alkmaar, putting them only one point clear at the top ahead of Olympiakos, who defeated Standard Liege at home 2-1. Click to continue reading...

I have to say that the Gunners looked like they took their foot of the accelerator most of the second half. In total they possessed the ball just 47% of the time, a statistic that is unlike them. Fabregas did not look sharp and Song looked lackadaisical. The team was missing its characteristic fluid passing style.

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The UEFA Champions League had eight group stage matches on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Several of the top clubs where in action including Arsenal, Liverpool, FC Barcelona, and Inter Milan. Here's a recap of all the matches along with vidoe highlights.

UEFA Champions League Recap Tuesday, October 20, 2009

There were several upsets and surprise results on Tuesday.

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Greek champions Olympiakos came from a goal behind to beat Belgian Standard Liege.

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0-1 Camargo

1-1 Mitroglou

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Arsenal vs AZ Alkmaar:

Top of the Group Arsenal are rapidly closing in on qualifying for the knock out stages, and 6 points from their double header with Dutch Champions AZ Alkmaar will see Arsène Wenger's men home.

The first of which takes place at AZ's DS-Stadium, a ground which Arsenal officially opened during a pre-season friendly in 2006.

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Matchday 3 sees some crucial matchups but none may be more important at this stage than the Standard Liege Olympiacos fixture. Arsenal look to be a lock for top spot in Group H but second place is wide open. A win today for Olympiacos would put them in the driver's seat.

If they lose at home today against Arsenal, last season's Eredivise champions AZ Alkmaar could be done for.

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Ok, so he is not called McDonald but he is Ronald, and after tonight, he will wish he had a farm

So three years ago, the Mighty Arsenal travelled to the Netherlands to play AZ Alkmaar in a ‘show off game' to mark the opening of the DSB Stadium. Three years have now gone by and tonight we play them again in what will be their UEFA Champions League debut season.

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AZ Alkmaar v Arsenal
Tuesday 20th October 2009
DS Stadium - Alkmaar
UEFA Champions League
Kick-off: 19:45 UK (20:45 CET)

Champions vs 4th placed team games are rarely this mismatched - the Dutch champions go into this game as underdogs despite playing at home (courtesy of a poor start to the season) while England's fourth-best team have punters and pundits salivating over another potential European master-class from Wenger's men.

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... We're back for another Tuesday full of matches, coming from Groups E, F, G, and H. In Group E, Liverpool/Lyon is an important one for the hosts, while Stuttgart hosts Sevilla in what should be an entertaining Group G clash.
My picks are below and you know the drill - bring it strong with your picks in the comments section. Click to continue reading...

As we move into the third Matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage, teams are starting to feel the pressure to procure points and jockey for the top two spots in their groups.

One of those teams is Liverpool, which suffered a 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina on Matchday Two and now meets Lyon knowing a loss to the French club could drop them three points behind Fiorentina for second place in Group E.

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The UEFA Champions League continues its group stage on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 and Wednesday, October 21, 2009 with all 32 teams in action. There are 8 matches on each day. Here's a list of the matches with predictions, previews, and USA/UK TV Listings for the matches on October 20 and October 21.

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Take my word, I haven't just looked at a couple of blurry Youtube clips before coming to a conclusion about the Standard Liege player who Manchester United have been strongly linked with recently.

Sir Alex Ferguson sent a 'get well soon' letter wishing him a speedy recovery which has caught the attention of the media, with fans on various internet forums discussing their thoughts on a possible signing.

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Fergie releases his inner stalker Sir Alex Ferguson is said to be embarrassed after a private letter he sent to Standard Liege's Steven Defour via his club was leaked. The Manchester United boss had clearly decided to roll out the Ruud Van Nistelrooy Method, whereby he cuddles up to injured players to put himself in the [. Click to continue reading...

In the world of football Armenia is not exactly considered an awesome team with an unbelievable history. In fact you could compare them to the MLB's Kansas City Royals for you Yanks out there. Armenia's biggest career matches have been in World Cup qualifiers if you get my drift. In other words Armenia has never been good enough to make the Cup in the first place, so their World Cup history is as limited as it can get.

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We have the waiter – now we have the beer !!

Not only do we have the wonder boy Cesc from Spain, the dodgy waiter turned keeper, the very cute looking Merida, now we have another exciting prospect signed on the professional dotted line, that is
Ignasi (San) Miquel – Nice beer

The young Spanish defender, who turned 17 last week, joined Arsenal in the summer and already has high hopes for his future with the Club – well lad, if you turn out to be anything like two of the three mentioned, then we are all going to be happy, very very happy!

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Wenger takes keen interest in up and coming midfielder.

Arsenal are also rumoured to be interested in signing Standard Liège midfielder Steven Defour, even though he's currently laid up with a broken foot. Arsène Wenger has sent scouts to watch the Belgian international, and was clearly impressed by unsurprising reports that he's flaked out on the sofa with his leg in a cast, eating grapes and watching The Jeremy Kyle Show and Loose Women.

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General Review
General Review II
Fiorentina 2 - 0 Liverpool
Liverpool pay heavy price for bad start
Harris: Viola expose Liverpool deficencies
Player Ratings
Barcelona 2 - 0 Dynamo Kiev
Messi unlocks stubbord Ukranians
FK Rubin Kazan 1 - 1 Inter Milan
Nerrazzuri held by Russian champions
Player Ratings
Rangers 1 - 4 Sevilla
Seville bring Rangers to earth
Unirea Urziceni 1 - 1 Stuttgart
Romanians make point with inspired display
Arsenal 2 - 0 Olympiakos
Late relief for fluent Arsenal
Player Ratings
Collins: Fabregas on fire, but Gunners still can't finish
Debrecen 0 - 4 Lyon
French giants trample gentle hosts
AZ Alkmaar 1 - 1 Standard Liege Click to continue reading...

Group E
Fiorentina shocked visiting Liverpool 2-0, both goals coming from Stevan Jovetic. It was the Reds first away-loss in 16 months. Lyon picked up a huge win on the road, 4-0 at Debrecen. Three goals came in the first 24 minutes.
Group F
Inter Milan was held to a disappointing 1-1 draw against FK Rubin Kazan in Russia. Click to continue reading...