It looks like it's going to be a lot longer than six weeks that Leon Best is out for, and indeed it seems he will not return this season. Leon Best tackled by Warnock out for the season Leon Best damaged his knee ligaments when he was tackled by Stephen Warnock in Sunday's 2-1 [...]

szólj hozzá: A2-2Q

Djibril Cisse scored the opener just 12 minutes into his QPR debut before Stephen Warnock put the ball into the back of his own net to give the away side a 2-0 lead at Villa Park, however goals from Darren Bent his 100th and Charles N'Zogbia ensured the points were shared.

Mail: Didier Drogba caption competition: January 6, 2011

Each week, Sportsmail has a caption competition for you to battle it out for a brilliant prize of a £100 Sportsbook bet with our friends at Paddy Power. This week's picture features Didier Drogba and Stephen Warnock.

Whipping Stephen Warnock Ep.20 The O'Neill Appeal by Off The Post on Mixcloud Happy New Year one and all! The Off The Post Podcast is the audio equivalent of a hangover on New Year's Day: uncomfortable at times, occasionally vomit-inducing, but if you get your head down you can just about push through it.

Warnock: I'm still a red

Stephen Warnock has spoken of his deep affection for Liverpool Football Club and is relishing the prospect of going head-to-head with his former club when they visit Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-17 11:41:40 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Liverpool head back out on the road, visiting the West Midlands in search of their second consecutive win in league. Success away from Anfield has been easier to come by, with Kenny Dalglish's squad winning more at opposition venues than they have at home. Alex McLeish's squad are level on points with Norwich City in ninth and have earned eleven of their nineteen points at Villa Park despite losing two of their last three.

With Shay Given out for a month, Brad Guzan gets his first Premier League start, and it's also emerged this week that the American is in contract discussions with his current deal set to expire at the end of the season. Jermaine Jenas is out for the season, and with the club apparently on the hook for his wages the less said about that the better.

One of the bigger talking points has been the return of Ashley Young. James Milner showed class by not celebrating at Eastlands recently, expect Ashley Young to do exactly the same today, but preferably because he hasn't scored.

Either way, it's a tough game ahead and I suspect there will be a bigger interest in the manner we McLeish approaches the game than any real expectation in getting much from it.

This game will go ahead despite the tragic news that Wales manager, Gary Speed, has apparently taken his own life. Naturally, with the game being in Wales and a number of internationals involved, the game will inevitably be effected in some way. Such sad news.

Alex McLeish has promised a better performance than we were treated to at White Hart Lane and, in all honesty, it would be difficult to be much worse.

Remember the Premier League? Yeah, we're finally back in action tonight for our first league game under the floodlights of 2011/12. Returning to White Hart Lane also happens to be significant for Alex McLeish, but that's not something we wish to dwell on.

Truth is, coming back from North London with a point has generally been a decent result for us in the past, you'll do well to find many Villa fans optimistic about grabbing something tonight.

You have to go all the way back to 2004/05 to find the last time this fixture was played; a 3-0 win under David O'Leary. Alex McLeish could really do with something similar today.

Darren Bent has said that one goal could open the floodgates, and McLeish has "rubbished" silly rumours of a January sale.

Darren Bent's first return to Wearside since his switch to Aston Villa has dominated the headlines, but Steve Bruce will more concerned with trying to find what would only be his third home win of 2011.

Alex McLeish is coming off the back of two losses; one far from unexpected, the other extremely disappointing.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 1-2 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 22 October 2011

They may have benefited from an extremely harsh red card given to Villa's Chris Herd for a rather innocuous-looking tangle with Martin Olsson, but West Brom fully deserved their victory against their local rivals.

West Brom come to Villa Park in a fixture we haven't lost since 1979. Our record from the last 10 times we played the Baggies in the league is six wins and four draws.

Roy Hodgson's side picked up their second win of the season last weekend, a 2-0 home victory against the hapless Wolves. We're trying to put a comprehensive loss at the hands of Man City behind us, Alex McLeish threatening to drop any players who put in lacklustre defensive displays.

By Alan Duffy

Starting with Samir Nasri, David Silva and Edin Dzeko on the bench and still winning 4-1 is surely the epitome of "strength in depth", and at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Manchester City's diamond-encrusted squad showed why they are real title contenders.

Not the scoreline we hoped for, but certainly one we feared. Not a great deal to discuss really, we were soundly beaten by a side who are clearly superior in every single position.

Mario Balotelli opened the scoring by leaping on the opportunity to pull a bicycle kick out of his toolbox, scoring from six yards.

We're back in action for what is the first really big test for Alex McLeish since he came to Villa, possibly one of the toughest of the season, but also as good a time as any to play Man City at their own place.

Over the last 10 times this league fixture has been played, we've won just two and lost eight times.

One of the more interesting pieces of Aston Villa news to emerge during the international break was the club's intention to include a clause in future contracts that would oblige players to live within 30 miles of Bodymoor Heath. Or at least have a base to use during what constitutes a "working week" for a Premier League footballer.

It's just under five months since Wigan were last at Villa Park and they've proven to be something of a bogey team for us in our limited history of playing them. This will only be the 7th time this league fixture has been played, but we're yet to win one. The pattern so far is LDLDLD; clearly we need to break that pattern one way or another today.

By Alan Duffy

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Aston Villa Premier League September 25 2011

Aston Villa came within touching distance of registering a valuable win at Loftus Road before man-mountain Richard Dunne put through his own net in injury-time to level the scores.

It's our first away trip to QPR since 1995 and we're in dire need of a better result than the 1-0 loss we suffered that day after the downbeat nature of our Carling Cup exit.

With Darren Bent and Emile Heskey injured, here's how the managers will go looking for three points today:

QPR Aston Villa 1 Patrick Kenny 1 Shay Given 18 Luke Young 2 Alan Hutton 35 Anton Ferdinand 6 James Collins 5 Fitz Hall 5 Richard Dunne 13 Armand Traore 3 Stephen Warnock 11 Alejandro Faurlin 25 Barry Bannan 17 Joey Barton 19 Stiliyan Petrov 4 Shaun Derry 16 Fabian Delph 32 Shaun Wright-Phillips 7 Stephen Ireland 10 Jay Bothroyd 10 Charles N'Zogbia 7 Adel Taarabt 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor Subs Subs 26 Brian Murphy 22 Brad Guzan 2 Bradley Orr 23 Habib Beye 14 Ákos Buzsáky 34 Shane Lowry 16 Matthew Connolly 38 Gary Gardner 21 Tommy Smith 12 Marc Albrighton 22 Heidar Helguson 14 Nathan Delfouneso 9 DJ Campbell 26 Andreas Weimann Probable Formation Castrol Football Prediction Last 10 results for this fixture: 12/23/95 QPR 1-0 Aston Villa 10/29/94 QPR 2-0 Aston Villa 12/04/93 QPR 2-2 Aston Villa 05/09/93 QPR 2-1 Aston Villa 11/02/91 QPR 0-1 Aston Villa 04/10/91 QPR 2-1 Aston Villa 03/20/90 QPR 1-1 Aston Villa 03/27/89 QPR 1-0 Aston Villa 08/30/86 QPR 1-0 Aston Villa 12/17/85 QPR 0-1 Aston Villa

Bolton come to Villa Park for the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, Alex McLeish has fielded a very strong side and Owen Coyle is able to hand Stuart Holden his first appearance since his knee injury at the tail end of last season.

Aston Villa Bolton 1 Shay Given 1 Adam Bogdan 2 Alan Hutton 2 Gretar Rafn Steinsson 5 Richard Dunne 5 Gary Cahill 6 James Collins 31 David Wheater 3 Stephen Warnock 11 Ricardo Gardner 19 Stiliyan Petrov 7 Chris Eagles 25 Barry Bannan 6 Fabrice Muamba 7 Stephen Ireland 8 Stuart Holden 12 Marc Albrighton 21 Darren Pratley 14 Nathan Delfouneso 28 Gael Kakuta 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor 24 David Ngog Subs Subs 22 Brad Guzan 22 Jussi Jaaskelainen 23 Habib Beye 4 Paul Robinson 34 Shane Lowry 20 Robbie Blake 16 Fabian Delph 16 Mark Davies 38 Gary Gardner 10 Martin Petrov 10 Charles N'Zogbia 14 Kevin Davies
Graham Burke 9 Tuncay Sanli League Cup 3rd Round Ties (K.

By Alan Duffy

Free from (in his opinion) the negative influence of former boss Gerard Houllier, England's forgotten man Gabriel Agbonlahor netted his third goal of the season for Villa in their 1-1 draw with Newcastle United.

Leon Best bagged the equaliser for the Magpies, with the midfield duo of Cabaye and Tioté impressing again.

Another game, another draw. That's four draws and a win now in the Premier League. Gabby Agbonlahor gave cause for optimism when he opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play during the first half, but Leon Best cancelled that out during a second half the visitors largely controlled.

The Geordies are back at Villa Park for what is a battle between two unbeaten sides, albeit after just four games. Alan Pardew's side managed to hold Arsenal to a goalless draw in their opening game, took a credible three points at Sunderland and the same again against Fulham at St. James'.

Newcastle have lost this fixture for the last three seasons and have only managed to leave Villa Park with all three points twice in the last ten years.

It's the first Premiership game after an international break and the transfer deadline day changes. Since we last played, Luke Young and Jean II Makoun headed for pastures new, but were replaced by Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas.

Here's how the two managers are going to look for the points today:

Hutton replaces Chris Herd in the only change to the starting line-up against Wolves, but Jenas doesn't make the 18.

By Alan Duffy

Paul Ince has a point! (about England players having questionable attitudes, that is.)

QPR's new full-back Luke Young has spoken about his decision to retire from international football in 2009, pointing the finger at Fabio Capello in the process.

This is a big, big game for Alex Mcleish today. The last of a run of home games and a derby against an opponent that caused his predecessor so many problems. It's also something of a "top of the table" encounter and the winner, should there be one, will get boasting rights over the rest of the league for at least a while today.

Guess who's coming to Villa Park... again!! I'm sure their fans are as sick of the sight of us as we are of them. Fortunately, if we can avoid being drawn against them in both of the cups, we won't have to see them again until the reverse of this fixture in March next year.

So, here's how the two Glaswegian managers are sending their sides out today in what will be Alex McLeish's first home game since taking over at Aston Villa.

The new 2011/12 Premier League season is finally here! It's the battle of the new managers at Craven Cottage today, although Martin Jol does have several competitive games under his belt in the Europa League.

Here are the confirmed line-ups for both sides:

Fulham Aston Villa 1 Mark Schwarzer 1 Shay Given 18 Aaron Hughes 2 Luke Young 14 Philippe Senderos 6 James Collins 5 Brede Hangeland 5 Richard Dunne 7 John Arne Riise 3 Stephen Warnock 16 Damien Duff 10 Charles N'Zogbia 20 Dickson Etuhu 16 Fabian Delph 13 Danny Murphy 19 Stiliyan Petrov 23 Clint Dempsey 18 Emile Heskey 8 Andrew Johnson 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor 25 Bobby Zamora 9 Darren Bent Subs Subs 38 Neil Etheridge 22 Brad Guzan 2 Stephen Kelly 21 Ciaran Clark 6 Chris Baird 7 Stephen Ireland 28 Matthew Briggs 17 Jean II Makoun 4 Steve Sidwell 12 Marc Albrighton 10 Pajtim Kasami 25 Barry Bannan 30 Moussa Dembele 14 Nathan Delfouneso Probable Formation: Castrol Football Prediction Today's other Premier League fixtures:

• Blackburn vs Wolves
• Liverpool vs Sunderland
• QPR vs Bolton
• Wigan vs Norwich
• Newcastle vs Arsenal (1730)

Liverpool has agreed an £8 million deal to sign full-back Jose Enrique from Newcastle United and hope to wrap up the move by the end of the week.
Executives from both clubs are tying up details today on a move that will see Newcastle receive an initial £6m with an agreement for a further £2m to be paid in add-ons depending on performance-related targets.

Stephen Warnock Close to Liverpool Return

Stephen Warnock is rumoured to be close to a move back to Liverpool amidst reports that a mystery ex-player could be set for an Anfield return. The 29-year-old has returned to top form of late and is thought to have caught the eye of Kenny Dalglish as he looks to bolster his defensive options.

Aston Villa are taking 24 players to Hong Kong to compete in the Barclays Asia Trophy and the travelling party are en route right now. As the strength and depth of the squad is a hot topic at the moment, I thought it might be interesting to compare this pre-season tournament squad with the squads from the last couple of seasons.

There is apparently a quote from Alex McLeish doing the rounds this evening which has caused a few knickers to get well and truly twisted. It doesn't take much admittedly, if it's not the colour of socks, it's something else equally earth-shattering. The new gaffer has said something to the effect that he only expects to make one more signing before the season starts.

By Andrew McCarten

For many, the exit of Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa manager at the beginning of the previous season was the prime reason for their decline. When O'Neill took over for the 2006/07 campaign, Villa had finished a lowly 16th the year before under David O'Leary, managing only 42 points.

The Daily Mirror is reporting today that Newcastle want to sign left-back Stephen Warnock from Aston Villa. Stephen Warnock on his way to Newcastle? It seems that manager Alan Pardew want tie twice capped England International to replace Spanish U21 International Jose Enrique, who is due to leave Newcastle this summer to some club, [.

Celtic star Emilio Izaguirre has admitted he is 'flattered' by Liverpool's reported interest in him.
The Honduran left sider had a wonderful maiden campaign in Scotland, and was voted SPL Player of the Year, Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.
Neil Lennon insists he has no plans to sell, but now a number of English clubs are being strongly linked with a move for the 25-year-old.

Newcastle were interested in Stephen Warnock when he was at Liverpool and then when he was at Blackburn Rovers. Stephen Warnock Newcastle interested in Villa reject But Newcastle didn't get the left back, who was in the England squad last summer in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Left-back Warnock is also likely [.

Want away Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock could make a surprise return to Liverpool reports the Daily Mail.
Contract negotiations at Villla Park broke down between the player and manager Gerard Houllier, before he was taken ill in hospital, and the news has attracted the attention of a number of Barclays Premier League suitors.

Contract negotiations between Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock and manager Gerard Houllier have broken down according to the Daily Mail.
Warnock has been frozen out at Villa Park since the arrival of Houllier, and the 29-year-old left back looks set to leave in the summer.
The news will have alerted the attention of potential suitors Liverpool who were heavily linked with a move for the former Reds trainee in the January transfer window.