Deportivo La Coruna-Atletico Madrid

Deportivo has remained strong early on in the year and the squad is currently in fifth place trailing four clubs that are all red hot. They should remain a top five club by the end of the week as they play the very inconsistent (but bad in La Liga so far) Atletico Madrid.

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This is what an allergy to water would look like, I presume. This is how years of therapy start. (Water Cooler Offside) The mathematics of a statistic. (Uli Hesse) The truthiness behind Lampard's plane injury. (Studs Up) Samuel Eto'o dishes out some expensive watches for his Cameroonian teammates. (The Spoiler) FIFA wages war against Iraq. Click to continue reading...

Usually an international break would be met with trepidation, but considering the horrible run and sub-par performances lately, JODY DANIELS is relieved that we can all have a break from what has truly been a rollercoaster season so far.
Another international friendly break – and I'm relieved. Click to continue reading...

This has been billed as win or bust by a lot of people especially United fans. Not since the era of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea (at their peak) have we gone into a match against Chelsea with the billing of underdogs. And for good reason.

Most fans as is their wont as fans hope their side will come good somehow against Chelsea.

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Some pretty pedestrian stuff so far this week, perhaps everyone still in shock after our thrashing on Saturday. First of all a surprising statistic has been released: Bolton's attendances rose last season by 8%, one of only two clubs to see a rise in attendance. I don't know if you noticed but last season (and more so this current season) the Reebok has been looking strikingly empty.

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A win tonight at Ashburton Grove will see Arsenal qualify for the from the first group stage of Champions League for the 10th consecutive seasons. Not even the great Barcelonas or Real Madrids or AC Milans can lay claim to such an impeccable consistency. Tonight sees the return fixture with AZ Alkmaar who pegged us back at the final minute of the game with an equalizer.

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Emiliano Insua today predicted Liverpool's defenders are ready to rediscover their miserly ways – as Steven Gerrard geared up for a return to action.
Having been restricted to just 25 minutes of action in the past three weeks due to a groin problem, Gerrard is poised to slot back into the Reds' midfield at Fulham on Saturday. Click to continue reading...

A mere three days after our match against the Toffees, our lovely Wanderers will be wandering their way down to Stamford Bridge. I;m not particularly relishing the prospect as the Carling Cup is the only silverware we even have a slight chance of winning, since most clubs treat it like a joke.

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Just in time for the election cycle, interim coach Richie Williams has received a huge endorsement for the vacant head coaching position. And this vote of confidence holds a lot of weight.

Team captain Juan Pablo Angel has clearly recognized the short term successes of the Williams era.

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Call we crazy, but I think this Barcelona team isn't that bad. I mean they did lose to a team earlier in the week that I had honestly never watched play a match in my entire life. But hey everyone has an off-week. Or in this case an off-weekday. Nobody wants to lose a Champions League game period.

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You can watch Liverpool v Manchester United Live online here.

Liverpool v Manchester United
Anfield, Liverpool
Sunday 25 October 2009
Kick-off: 14:00 BST

Billed this week as the game that could end Rafa's reign at Liverpool and end Liverpool's title aspirations before the end of October, this game is none of the above.

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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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Thirteen is the magic number for the Akron Zips. There's no stopping the country's No. 1 team these days, and the Zips continues to roll through the opposition with a 1-0 win against North Illinois over the weekend. Akron outshot Northern Illinois 17-3 but could only muster a game-winner in the 70th minute.

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There have been a few stories rattling around the blogosphere lately about how the cratered economy has decimated fans' ability to pay ever-spiraling ticket prices for professional sporting events.
Yesterday the always biting Field of Schemes linked to Wright Thompson's experience in the absurd seats at Yankee Stadium, and highlighted an interesting statistic from the piece:

A recent poll discovered an unsettling trend emerging for the first time.

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I'm always curious to see where finances are coming from because as we've seen, money drives this sport. The ownership trend is one I'd follow over player and manager nationality. An interesting statistic: Of the 20 clubs currently competing in the English Premier League, half are foreign owned. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has conceded he has not been playing to his best so far this season, but has vowed to recapture his peak form.
Carragher has come under fire from some critics following some below-par performances by the normally reliable defender.
The Reds have struggled to keep clean sheets this season and have conceded 12 goals in eight Premier League games this term. Click to continue reading...

Jamie issues wake up call.

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

Watch Ukraine Vs England Live Online!

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has conceded he has not been playing to his best so far this season, but has vowed to recapture his peak form.

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Fernando Torres has now scored 33 goals in 34 games at Anfield for Liverpool.
It is a quite astonishing statistic and he walked off with the match ball after Liverpool trashed Hull 6-1.
But sadly I do believe Liverpool are becoming a two-man show, with Steven Gerrard and Torres running things for Rafa Benitez's side. Click to continue reading...

Robbie Keane

Keane Machine not only scored one goal, he not only scored two goals, okay I'll get to the point.  Robbie Keane scored four goals for the Spurs against Burnley this last weekend and the Irishman reminded Premier League fans everywhere of his fantastic goal scoring ways.

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The former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Stan Collymore believes his former club are more reliant than ever on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, following the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.
Collymore acknowledges the aforementioned two as world class performers but suggests the club is too reliant on their abilities, and will struggle away from Anfield. Click to continue reading...

Whether it is player rotation, Steven Gerrard's best position or how much was spent on transfers, there has always been press criticism of Rafa Benitez's decisions. And with Liverpool conceding a number of goals from set-pieces this season, the tiresome 'zonal marking' myth has been resurrected yet again. Click to continue reading...

Background: 1996 was MLS's inaugural year, so every record set that year became both an MLS season and all-time record. Most of those season records have fallen since, but one still exists. Leonel Alvarez received 14 yellow cards during that first MLS season, and his ugly track record has never been matched.

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My old dad had a simple saying for me: "When you start something, finish it."
The Houston Dynamo could use a little bit of that right about now. Check out this little stat:
Red cards issued to Houston Dynamo in all competitions since the MLS All-Star Game: Eight
Red cards issued to Dynamo in all competitions before MLS All-Star Game: One (to Mike Chabala against NYRB in the 93rd minute April 11)
That truly is an amazing statistic. Click to continue reading...

So I actually did get time to do a preview, you lucky ducks! I've used the handy BBC Premiership Predictor, a wonderful piece of web design where you can enter your expected results and see how it affects the table. Perfect for wasting time if you're at work/school and don't actually want to do something (I am a champion procrastinator, in fact I should be doing math homework as I type this).

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Poor Chowan University. Coming into Sunday's match with UT, the Hawks (1-4-0) had been shut out their last two matches, outscored 8-0 in those matches, and suffered a 6-0 loss against Columbus State in their previous match.
The Spartans (1-2-1) showed no mercy.
With UT hungry for their first win, they pounced on the Hawks and dominated the run of play and almost ever statistic:
Tampa had eleven corner kicks. Click to continue reading...

PAUL ANDERSON, Orrell Park
Should anyone out there still actually be backing our American owners surely the moment the transfer window slammed shut on Tuesday was the final insult and enough to make them lower their star-spangled banner.
The most deceptive statistic of the season so far shows that Liverpool were the second biggest spenders in the league. Click to continue reading...

Going through the football news and bloggers  since we lost to Villa was very very interesting and disheartening at the same time.Â

If the slating came from the usual enemies of LFC, then it is understood. These vultures, the so-called expert on journalism but do the most copy-and-paste reporting, will forever lurk around LFC and find even a slight bit of excuse to go after us.

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So yeah, about that title thing. Before everyone starts cussing the yank owners for their inability to fund an immediate replacement for Alonso, I would like to point out that we should not have to have a huge transfer budget to beat the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa. Those teams certainly don't.

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Absolutely no time tonight, and none tomorrow either (blame the end of the cricket season, which may stop me seeing the United game live next week), so instead, here's a bullet point roundup:

• United losing was great news, but they aren't a spent force without Ronaldo. It would be foolish to write them off, and I hope no-one does.

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I don't know about the rest of you, but when it comes to sports, I'm a numbers guy. I love statistics! It could be as simple as how many points Manchester United is away from winning their fourth Premier League title in a row (that number should be three points lower after Wednesday, but Burnley really messed with that stat) or as complex as what Everton's home record is when Yakubu scores with his right foot opposed to his left.

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