A few notes from around the club today, including the signing of another young talent (as seen below).

Window shopping

Mikel to be fit for Saturday, Lampard likely
• After some seven weeks on the shelf, John Obi Mikel is finally ready to resurface.

A spot in the Olympics is on the line for the US Women when they play Costa Rica at 8pm on Universal Sports Network over-air and online. Everton - Fulham 3pm - Fox Soccer Fox Soccer reworked its schedule to bring us a battle of National Teamers abroad in the FA Cup. This is a chance to see Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey against each other at club level, with a spot in the final.

Jon Levy The national team hasn't even suited up in 2012, but it's already been an encouraging year for American soccer. Dempsey and Donovan (for two months, at least) are both leading the line of attack for their respective English Premier League teams, the Women's National Teamers avoided a would-be tragedy in their Vancouver hotel [.

Clint Dempsey had the standout performance for National Teamers Abroad over the weekend, scoring three times as Fulham advanced 4-0 over Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup. Playing at home, Dempsey had Fulham's first goal eight minutes in, adding a second in the 61st and converting an 81st minute penalty to finish off the hat-trick.

This afternoon Portsmouth travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup third round. Can you believe that just over a year and a half ago, both sides fought out a tight encounter in the FA Cup final at Wembley!?.
Since then, both sides have had their dramas. We as Chelsea fans think we've had it bad but for Portsmouth fans, they had to face the reality of their football club being wound up, court cases, liquidators and contemplating life without their club anymore!

Everton - Bolton 3pm - Fox Soccer Plus With Stuart Holden continuing his journey to full fitness, what would have been a battle of National Teamers becomes an opportunity to see Landon Donovan makes his debut on loan from Los Angeles. Hopefully, it's available on a cable system near you. Everton are in 10th-place, with Tim Howard recording four shutouts in 18 Premier League games this season.

Clint Dempsey and Fulham headlined another day of National Teamers in action in England's Premier League. Fulham beat Arsenal 2-1 at Craven Cottage, the latest in a series of games where elite clubs have stumbled. Arsenal led from the 21st minute, but were reduced to ten men when Johan Djourou was sent off in the 78th.

* Due to a scheduling error, this piece will be published several days after Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Happy Hanukkah, everyone! Happy Kwanza, everyone! Joyous pagan ritual, everyone! To help us celebrate, here are all 20 goals Robin van Persie has scored this season:

On this lovely wet Christmas in Vancouver I find my mind wandering, as I think of times past and times future (that works grammatically, right?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Saturday is taking its sweet ass time to get here, something we're finding hard to deal with right now.

So screw work for the time being and take in these midday entertainment treats with us.

1. Tottenham Tadpoles Want You To Stand By Them

What you've heard about grown women in their pajamas being virtually serenaded by boys half their ages is true.

Will Koscielny pocket another multi million pound striker?

When I say horror city, I don't mean Manchester City the team (although I won't be far off with that). It is of course a return to the City of Manchester where our last visit there for a match was one to be forgotten. Had this match be immediately after that one, I would be very worried.

Conor Coady has paid tribute to Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey after the duo excelled during their respective run-outs for Liverpool Reserves recently.
The Melwood pair hit a double apiece as the second-string romped to wins over Sunderland and Wigan - and the 18-year-old midfielder feels he can only learn from playing alongside such dedicated first-teamers.

· Have we ever had a less important match in our schedule? Friendlies aside, this is one of the greatest non-events in our history. With Sunderland and Chelski coming up in the League over the next week, and the cyanide-laced chalice of Europa qualification limited to mathematics equations of the absurd, ‘Arry would be forgiven for just leaving Clive Allen and Tim Sherwood to take care of the kids tonight, or maybe fielding Allen and Sherwood themselves.

125 years! Hell of a long time, so long ago that Spurs title win was in the future and even Kelsey hadn't been born .

And what a tradition our wonderful club has, what history, and always (apart from Mr. Norris) a club with honour and class. To those lucky enough to be going today the opportunity to share in the celebrations is one not to be missed.

125 years! Hell of a long time, so long ago that Spurs title win was in the future and even Kelsey hadn't been born .

And what a tradition our wonderful club has, what history, and always (apart from Mr. Norris) a club with honour and class. To those lucky enough to be going today the opportunity to share in the celebrations is one not to be missed.

If drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham and losing in the Milk Cup with an understrength team can be described as a blip, then our blip was batted away with that assured win at Wigan.

Nice too that the goals were scored not by one man, but by four. Particularly pleasing too that Gervinho netted one: I think he's had a big effect on our attacking potency, even if he's not sunk as many goals as we might have liked – though three league goals in ten starts is hardly a drought, either.

By Alan Duffy

Arsene Wenger did his usual Carling Cup thing against Manchester City on Wednesday night, resting most of his first teamers and giving some youngsters a bit of action. Roberto Mancini rested Joe Hart, Mario Balotelli and a couple of other City megastars, but with the squad the Italian has assembled, even a (partly) second-string side is full to the brim with expensive internationals.

It's been the week of loans in B6 with no less than four players heading out to get some competitive football elsewhere.

Firstly, Habib Beye went to Doncaster, initially until January, but hopefully a deal to take him through to the end of the season (and his Villa contract) won't be out of the question.

England: John Terry no longer needed - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

England face Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday as Fabio Capello looks to sign off 2011 in a flourish. On Saturday England claimed a deserved 1-0 victory against, World Champions Spain, which will be remembered as one of the highlights of a successful year for the Three Lions.

The loss in Kazan last night has left Spurs needing to avoid defeat in their next two games against PAOK and Shamrock Rovers if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the next round of 32 and it raises an issue that has been burning since our Europa League qualification was assured.

The manager has never been shy in letting his feelings known about the validity of this competition and words such as annoyance and irritation are never far from his lips.

By Chris Wright

A pair of beautifully-taken goals from the Yaya Monster (the footwork before the second of the two is definitely worth another look) and a penalty both won and dispatched by Mario Balotelli saw Man City cruise to victory over a bare-bones Villarreal side that put in the worst performance by a Spanish club in Champions League history (© Martin O'Neill).

The story of the weekend for National Teamers was Clint Dempsey's 42nd minute goal with Fulham beating Wigan Athletic 2-0 at DW Stadium. Moussa Dembele scored Fulham's second goal in the 87th minute. Mark Schwarzer needed six saves for the shutout, with Fulham only putting three shots on frame. "I'm happy we got the points today and I'm sure people back home in the States like to see me doing well.

Michael Orozco was yellow carded four minutes into San Luis's 2-1 win over Queretaro on a crowded Wednesday schedule in Mexico's Primera Division. Alfredo Moreno scored twice for the home side in the 57th and 72nd minutes before Queretaro pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 81st. In a battle of National Teamers, DaMarcus Beasley's Puebla beat Herculez Gomez's U.

Tomorrow Sporting KC have their second friendly of the season when they host Chivas Guadalajara at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The game was part off the deal that brought Omar Bravo to Kansas City this year. Guadalajara's roster is full of plenty of first teamers with them on the trip including captain Hector Reynoso and vice-captain Luis Ernesto Michel.

The International break means there's little Fulham news to talk about. England did what they needed to do and qualified for Euro 2012 but the press had a field day over Rooney's sending off. How perfect for the British media that the man most in the spotlight should rise to the bait and give them something to write about.

THFC1882′s Stuart Watts presents guest writer Ciaran Griggs match report from Thursday....

"Their best defender was the crossbar..."

Spurs: Cudicini, Walker, Corluka, Bassong, Rose, Lennon, Livermore, Carroll, Dos Santos, Defoe, Pavulychenko (Subs – Townsend for Lennon, Falque for Defoe, Kane for Rose)

Here's one I wrote earlier.

The major National Teamers Abroad news from Wednesday was Pachuca's Jose Francisco Torres needing surgery after breaking his fifth metatarsal, the bone that connects to the little toe. The injury will keep him out of action for the rest of 2011. Serie A, and Michael Bradley got the start for Chievo in a 1-0 win against Napoli.

2:45pm ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
2-3 Liverpool (a; FA Cup) 01.30.91
2-2 (h; FA Cup) 01.26.91
4-0 Liverpool (h; League Cup) 10.29.85
0-2 Brighton (a; FA Cup) 01.01.84
Previous round(s):
Liverpool: 3-1 Exeter (a)
Brighton: 1-0 Sunderland (h); 1-0 Gillingham (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-4 Spurs (a) 0-1 Stoke (a); 3-1 Bolton (h)
Brighton: 0-1 Leicester (a); 1-0 Bristol City (a); 2-0 Peterborough (h)
Goalscorers (all):
Liverpool: Suarez 3; Adam, Carroll, Henderson, Maxi, Skrtel 1
Brighton: Barnes 5; Mackail-Smith 3; Buckley 2; Harley, Hoskins, Noone 1
Referee: Michael Oliver
Youngest Premier League referee in history.

By Chris Wright

As you may have heard over the past few days, Man City are currrently immersed in plans to develop the 80-odd acres of derelict wasteland currently lying vacant next to the Etihad Stadium...

...into a new, £100-million training complex complete with 15 full-size pitches (including one indoor pitch), on-site sleeping accommodation for 72 players (40 youth teamers and 32 members of the first string), a medical/rehab centre (for Kolo Toure) and a 7,000 capacity stadium for reserve and youth string matches.

Tonight's game sees us travel to Greece for the first group game of our latest European campaign. Seen by many, including our manager, as an inconvenient interlude to the real business of the Premier League, especially with Liverpool up next on Sunday. We've left the majority of first teamers at home, which gives the fringe and young players a chance to impress and get some European experience on their CV's.

In Mexico's Primera Division, Edgar Castillo and Club America drew at Azteca against Michael Orozco and San Luis. Both National Teamers played the full ninety. San Luis's Wilmer Aguirre opened the scoring in the 30th minute, with Rosinei equalizing for Club America three minutes into the second-half.

Not to worry Cris is a pro at managing these kinds of situations. Image Credit: Tomislav Kristo / Cropix.

Real Madrid have not exactly had it easy since landing in Zagreb ahead of their Champions League tie with Dinamo Zagreb. First, was their airport arrival, which is normally a seriously suited and festive occasion.

Champions League Preview: Real and Barca the teams to beat - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

It seems that in almost every aspect of the game, two clubs dominate the footballing world. They are Spanish super heavyweights Real Madrid and Barcelona. Any team boasting multiple stars is said to echo Real's Galactico era, while teams from League Two to the K-League are said to be a mini-Barcelona.

Colorado played poorly, the coaching staff made poor decisions, and the team got a poor result. The 1-0 score hides the fact that this loss should have been by 3 or 4 based on what we saw on the field. For most of the first half LA was just attacking in wave after wave, forcing Pickens into 8 saves total, two of which were back to back and as good as the MLS Cup saving tackle at the end of the championship game.

You think if we threw on our best brown duds and hung out on a park bench for long enough, Austrian national teamers Arnautovic and Klein would just happen to stroll by? We're thinking of giving it a shot, Kickettes. Image: Reuters/Daylife.

Abhinav's Note: First of all, don't be deceived by the author's note. Nope, this is not a post written by me. Lifelong Man United fan Sai Adithya, who last flirted with writing out here on the free agents this summer, is back with a detailed pre-match analysis of the big clash this Super Sunday.

Jack Wilshere has added to Arsenal's growing injury crisis and has been put in a surgical boot to protect his ankle injury, says the Mirror. He is set to miss games against Liverpool and Udinese and is battling to be fit for the trip to Manchester United on Sunday week, says the paper this morning.

Kenny Dalglish has revealed he is under no pressure to sell players – and that Liverpool's owners are instead urging him to continue his summer spending.
Bankrolled by Fenway Sports Group, the Anfield outfit has spent more than £50million to strengthen their squad during the transfer window.
In front of the biggest home attendance in more than 25 years, the new-look Liverpool, featuring four debutants, began the Premier League season in stuttering fashion on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Sunderland.

The first leg of the Spanish Super Cup of this season ended with a thoroughly entertaining 2-2 draw at the Santiago Bernebeu stadium in Madrid. Realm madrid fans would have been wondering how on earth they failed to save the match, may be how on earth we scored two goals. I haven't seen a Barca side in near memory being so overly dominated especially in the midfield.

After a tumultuous few weeks in the capital and beyond, Norwegian football has resumed some sort of normal service—matches in the 17th round of the Tippeligaen, scheduled just two days after the attacks in Oslo and Utoya, were postponed, leaving this past weekend's fixtures as the first matches in nearly two weeks.

Kickoff from Ullevaal Stadium at 18:00 GMT/1:00PM EST

Ways to Watch:

Live in the U.S. on Fox Soccer Channel and online on LFCtv for e-Season subscribers.

MyP2P.eu
StopStream.tv
ATDHEnet.tv
FromSport.com

Liverpool:

Team sheet when it's available.