I posed some statements to the other writers of Stumptown Footy and asked them to buy or sell the statement with a brief explanation. Here are our answers:

Kris Boyd will score 10+ goals this season. Andrew:

Sell. I've held this opinion close to my chest. I want to believe that Boyd is going to be the goalscorer the Timbers organization has cast their lot in, but to me there are still just a few too many questions.

Morning all, some interesting quotes from Arsene Wenger appeared in a Belgian newspaper yesterday. For those that wish to cream yourselves on the bits about Eden Hazard, he had this to say:

I like him a lot, and for several reasons. His creativity, his ability to unbalance the opposition, his vision and his consummate art of giving the final ball make him a player coveted by many.

At least for 2011-12.

Having already played once this season to raucous applause, Palermo and Inter danced once again at the San Siro today amidst the snow. Their first meeting was nice, Palermo snatching a 4-3 victory and giving neutrals the joyous gift of 7 goals. Tonight they did one better collectively a 4-4 draw, taking their tally for the year to an utterly absurd 15 goals.

Andy Carroll who has come under intense fire from the Liverpool faithful the past few weeks for his inconsistent performances, responded to his critics by scoring in Liverpool's 3-0 win over Wolves yesterday.

The £35 million signing from Newcastle opened the scoring for the Reds, to take his tally for the club to 7.

The Fire have made official the signing of Kheli Dube, their lone pick in the 2011 MLS re-entry draft. This builds on the busy offseason the Fire have had, with Dube becoming their fifth player added to the Fire roster this offseason. Follow me after the break for a couple of comments and some info on Dube.

Clint, to coin the phrase from former SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick, is 'en fuego'. Dempsey dumped in three second half goals as Fulham raced to a 5-2 victory against Newcastle this afternoon.
Deuce becomes the first American to score a hat trick in the Premier League - did we mention he scored three against Charlton in an FA Cup match two weeks ago?

Andy Carroll is hoping Steven Gerrard's comeback can help kick-start the striker's difficult start to his Liverpool career.
Injuries to both players have resulted in Carroll and Gerrard starting just one game together - last week's Carling Cup semi-final first leg win at Manchester City - since the forward's £35million move from Newcastle last January.

Jamie Carragher is flattered by talk of a role at LFC after retirement - but insists extending his playing career for as long as possible is his top priority right now.
Fellow Scouser Steven Gerrard signed a new deal at the club last week which will see him adopt an ambassadorial role once his playing days are over.

Jamie Carragher is flattered by talk of a role at LFC after retirement - but insists extending his playing career for as long as possible is his top priority right now.
Fellow Scouser Steven Gerrard signed a new deal at the club last week which will see him adopt an ambassadorial role once his playing days are over.

Barcelona looked like they were headed for a draw before Alexis Sanchez and Messi scored in the span of 10 minutes to hand the Catalans a much needed 4-2 win over Real Betis that reduced their deficit on Leaders Real Madrid to 5 points.

World Player of the year Lionel Messi scored a brace to bring his tally for the season to 19 goals, just 2 short of leading goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona returned to within five points of Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 4-2 defeat of ten-man Real Betis, on a day when Athletic Club improved their European chances by beating Levante.

Josep Guardiola's men made an explosive start at Camp Nou as Xavi Hernández opened the scoring after ten minutes and Lionel Messi took his league tally to 18 shortly afterwards.

* It's worth remembering that we started well. Arshavin, for all the criticism he's received today, threaded a lovely ball through to RvP who finished with aplomb. Funnily enough, the goal worried me slightly - scoring early can be a bit of a double-edged sword with a team that is struggling defensively as much as we are at present, as it encourages the opposing side to attack from an early stage.

Benoît Pierre David Assou-Ekotto, or Mr Consistency to a growing number of Spurs fans always scores well in our polls but did his performance last night finally secure our man of the match award?
BAE's most telling influences on the game came in attack with the raking diagonal ball that set up Aaron Lennon and the pile-driving second half strike that doubled his tally in a Spurs shirt.

The following tables show the number of points earned by teams during 2011.

It's very tight at the top of the Championship table for 2011. Reading have the best points average yet it's Middlesbrough who picked up more points during the year. Both these sides are closely followed by Cardiff City who finish the year having picked up 82 points, an identical tally to Reading.

Paul Scholes is back to Utd

Man Utd is making Rob Smyth eat his words. Wayne Rooney has scored two including a penalty and Danny Welbeck's wondrous volley rounds of the tally.

Vincent Kompany was sent off in the 12th minute for a two footed tackle on Nani which got the ball but not the man however Chris Foy, who else (memories of the Spurs vs Stoke match linger on) thought differently.

Ireland international Simon Cox fired West Brom into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a hat-trick against Cardiff this afternoon.
Cox headed his first home from eight yards after a cross from Baggies captain Nicky Shorey. He doubled his tally in the 61st minute with a scorcher from 25 yards that gave Heaton no chance as it crossed the line after rattling off his post, and he sealed his hat-trick with an easy tap in from an Odemwingie pass.

Barcelona moved a step closer to a possible Copa del Rey quarter-final showdown with Real Madrid after winning the first leg of their last-16 tie against Osasuna 4-0.

Barca beat Osasuna 8-0 at home in the La Liga back in September and the Pamplona-based side must have feared another mauling when Cesc Fabregas netted twice in the opening 18 minutes at the Nou Camp the second a superb chip.

FC Barcelona firmly placed their right foot in the next round of Copa del Rey with a 4-0 victroy against Osasuna at the Camp Nou. Now unless a seriously bad loss happens in the return leg, we will be firm favorite to face either Malaga or Real madrid in next round. A frist half brace from cesc Fabregas put Barca on course for a easy victory.

It's not all that surprising that an American scored at Goodison Park on Wednesday. After all, Everton's match against Bolton marked Landon Donovan's return to the Toffees. Thing is, Donovan wasn't the one to find the back of the net.

In open play, goalkeeper Tim Howard unleashed a long kick from his own box that took a perfect bounce from about 25 yards out and got carried by a furious wind over Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan into the goal.

By Chris Wright

With his slinky goal against West Brom last night, Jermain Defoe overtook Glenn Hoddle's scoring tally for Tottenham but even that didn't gloss over the fact that, at some point before the game, he chose to do this to his head...

Yeesh.

Fulham 2 (Sidwell 85, Zamora 90) Arsenal 1 (Koscielny 21)
(Premiership)

It is always difficult to write a match report after a game like this. I was tempted to pen my thoughts in the immediate aftermath, but decided to let the game settle a little and write in the morning.

Another one stopped

The final outcome was a result that we did not need and with Tottenham winning their latter game at Carrow Road, it makes me very uncomfortable with the gap that is opening up slightly between us. This was a chance to move ahead of Chelsea into 4th spot. It ended up being as frustrating a match to watch.

Another one stopped

The final outcome was a result that we did not need and with Tottenham winning their latter game at Carrow Road, it makes me very uncomfortable with the gap that is opening up slightly between us. This was a chance to move ahead of Chelsea into 4th spot. It ended up being as frustrating a match to watch.

You all know the words. Fulham's Clint Dempsey converted from close range near the hour to give the visitors a 1-1 share at arch nemesis Chelsea. Since we've taken to running numbers on Deuce this year, let's break down the tally:It was his first ever at Stamford Bridge, his second in five career Boxing Day derbies, his sixth league goal of the season (marking the fifth straight season he's done

Image via AP Photos.

The UK Home Office, responsible for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, counter-terrorism and police, has been tooting its horn for all to hear today.

The reason?

Arrests for football-related disorders among English and Welsh fans has hit a new, all time record low.

Just over a week ago, an isolated story appeared suggesting that Andros Townsend was on his way out of the club after a training ground ‘disagreement'. It seemed unworthy of comment at the time and that view has been backed up by the news that Andros has signed a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2016.

Aston Villa 1 – 2 Arsenal Match Report

1st half observations from a bad stream

The first 45 minutes were pretty different from what I expected. Aston Villa did not close us down frantically and allowed Arsenal plenty of space. Especially Gervinho and Theo saw plenty of the ball, as Villa sat deep in the beginning, allowing our wingers to attack them from the sides.

A shaky performance, but we won. So, Yay?

An early pelanty goal from Robin van Persie, taking his tally to 34 goals in the calendar year, and a late goal from Yossi Benayoun (from a header, no less) secured a nervous, underperforming, but ultimately crucial midweek win at Villa Park today.

Well we've all been wondering what the Portland Timbers pre-season plans were and today they've been given a serious spotlight. Per the title of this article, the Timbers will host Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes and AIK (from Sweden's first division Allsvenskan) from February 27th-March 4th, about 1 week prior to First Kick 2012).

FC Barcelona were crowned the 2011 World Club Champions following a brilliant 4-0 victory against South American Champions Santos. The battle between the Champiosn of Europe and Champiosn of South America were a mismatch with Barca controlling the proceedings for the majority of match.

Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish in charge for 350th match against Aston Villa

• Away results are better than at home for Liverpool • 'At home not getting what we deserve,' says Dalglish Kenny Dalglish disagrees with the school of thought that suggests his Liverpool side perform better away from home.

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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

From Player of the Season at Aston Villa to struggling at Anfield what's gone wrong for Stewart Downing at Liverpool?

The winger has struck the woodwork three times for the Reds already this season and his assists tally has fallen victim to some wasteful finishing from his team-mates

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-17 09:49:00 from: Goal

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