Ahead of this afternoon's game against Chelsea, Darren Mantle from CFCNet has taken the time to talk to us on all things Chelsea.

Scott the Red: Does your current league position match with your expectations at the start of the season or had you been anticipating a serious title challenge from Chelsea?

February kicks off for Liverpool on Monday, with Spurs set to visit Anfield in the first match of another important month. Liverpool will look to carry their momentum from the domestic cup triumphs and a comfortable 3-0 win at Wolves into the match, which hopefully signals a turnaround from a disappointing league stretch to open 2012 that had seen them winless until the final day of January.

Stamford Bridge hasn't been a pay hunting ground in the league for United in recent years, but they look overpriced at 2.9 with Betfred to beat their arch rivals Chelsea and bag a vital three points to maintain their title challenge.

Having played Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool in quick succession, and with Liverpool coming up again, United are now at a crucial stage of their season having hauled themselves level on points with Roberto Mancini's men at the top of the Premiership.

THFC1882 presents guest writer Kenny Palmer's report of Tottenham Hotspur versus Wigan:

A man of the match performance by Gareth Bale against obliging opponents Wigan helped reignite Spurs title challenge, as they now sit just five points behind the Manchester clubs following the leaders City's defeat to Everton.

It has been a scrappy season for defending Premier League champions Manchester United but in dealing with a plethora of injuries, the club has certainly benefited from the consistency of Michael Carrick, which has not gone unnoticed.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has backed the 30-year old midfielder to continue his terrific run even as the Red Devils prepare to welcome returning playmakers Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley.

The long substitution

It's finally confirmed, the news that we did not want to hear. That Jack Wilshere has had a setback and would not be available in the date that we initially had hoped he would be back for. AC Milan's games were touted as his return period but that will now have to be extended.

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich angered their supporters yesterday with news that they would be making a spectacular signing before the transfer window closed only for the fans to later find out that it was a marketing gimmick.

Apparently, Bayern was trying to gain interest for their new app by creating intense speculation as to who the signing would be.

Who does this tasty torso and tent combo belong to? Answers can be found in the relevant section. Image: AP Photo/Frank Augstein.

This weekend's games offered their usual blend of record breaking rude boys, incomprehensible decision making and unnecessarily harsh twists of fate.

Be still our beating hearts; the summer break is a looooong way away.

Isn't it funny that although we were dire on Saturday and dropped two points away to Norwich, We gained a point on Spurs as they lost at Manchester City. Forget the league title, that's gone and has been for a while now, but it's important that Chelsea finish 3rd as a minimum this season. I think we'd all take that now with a decent run in the FA Cup and Champions League.

Today's SPL. All of our dirty dozen are in action. Here's a very quick look ahead.
St Mirren v Celtic
Ah, St Mirren. 2-1 up last week with their opponents down to ten men. They lost 5-2.
A season in 90 minutes. The promise, the impressive moments, the entertainment and the frequent disappointments.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric firmly believes that his side can win away to league leaders Manchester City this Sunday despite the hosts having a perfect record at the Eastlands this season.

Modric, who endured a shaky start to the campaign due to being distracted by a potential move to Chelsea, has rediscovered his form of late and after scoring in the Spurs' 1-1 draw against Wolves, he is approaching the clash with City with a strong mindset.

So that's the title challenge put to bed for another year- I must say it was terrific fun while it lasted. Barely had I got the blue and white bunting down from the loft after our win against Everton, was I then tossing it into the fire with all my tax returns again on Saturday evening. Easy come, easy go.

West London giants Chelsea have finally completed the signing of England centre back Gary Cahill from fellow Premier League side Bolton Wanderers after a protracted transfer negotiation with the player over personal terms. Having completed a medical examination at the weekend, Cahill now joins Chelsea's star studded squad as they look to get their title challenge back on track - and at just 26 may be viewed by the club as a long term replacement for fellow England defender John Terry at Stamford Bridge.

Any hopes we had of tiptoeing under the radar were swiftly punted into the Thames on Wednesday evening after every man and his lame dog in the days following declared Tottenham of Hotspur as genuine title contenders™. Alan Hansen, David Platt, S'ralex- even our own Heemskerk Howitzer, Rafael Van der Vaart, has pitched his tent in the side of ‘why the heck not'.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful his team can prevent neighbours Manchester City from becoming the dominant force in English football, in much the same way he did with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team.

The London club won two titles under Mourinho after spending big on players, but Sir Alex rebuilt his squad and wwnt on to win the Premier League in 4 of the next 5 years.

Tottenham have been praised for their style of football by some of the best managers in the game.

"They've played the best football this season," commented Sir Alex Ferguson. David Moyes said he'd actually pay to watch this current Spurs team play.

We have had some excellent performances.

So finally this much-vaunted "Game in Hand" is upon us. Truth be told, I will be a little sad to see it go. It has practically become part of the family, like a scruffy, uncouth urchin discovered in the wreckage of the summer riots, and adopted by the cheery folk of White Hart Lane. And let's face it, this Game in Hand has proved more useful than the Sword of Omens when it comes to pointless bickering with fans of l'Arse, Chelski, Liverpool and the like.

It's hard not to mention the ‘T' word this week, particularly after last night's defeat for Manchester United leaves Spurs with the opportunity to draw level on points with the second place side if they beat Everton next Wednesday.

Many Spurs players have been asked for their comments about a possible title challenge and Jermain Defoe is one who insists that our lofty position is not bringing any added pressure to the players.

Mail: Newspaper review: Luis Suarez could quit England

Luis Suarez is ready to walk out on English football. Harry Redknapp is preparing to offer Blackburn Rovers £15million for Christopher Samba and Junior Hoilett in and attempt to bolster the Barclays Premier League title challenge of Tottenham Hotspur.

Blackburn burnished a memorable win at Old Trafford last week and today it was Newcastle's turn to twist the knife into Sir Alex's men at St James Park. David De Gea was gone replaced by Anders Lindegaard and Wayne Rooney was back £200,000 lighter after his Boxing Day breakout. It did not make a difference as Newcastle pounded them with power, finesse, and a desire to play attacking football.

It's January 2022. The world has changed massively over the last decade but one thing never alters A Question of Sport is still going, although this once proud flagship of BBC peak-time is now on BBC3 at 2.30 am. Sue Barker still presides over proceedings. Like Miss Haversham, she clings to the trappings of faded grandeur, her immaculate twin-set grimy and worn on the seams, her hair as immovable as always but clouds of dust fly up into the studio lights as she asks the next question.

Manchester City lay down title challenge to United with win over Liverpool as Roberto Mancini's side bounce back

Manchester City reopen gap over United with emphatic win over Liverpool in 'crucial month' in title race for Roberto Mancini.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2012-01-04 10:12:04 from: The Telegraph

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

Manchester City lay down title challenge to United with win over Liverpool as Roberto Mancini's side bounce back

Manchester City reopen gap over United with emphatic win over Liverpool in 'crucial month' in title race for Roberto Mancini.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2012-01-04 10:12:04 from: The Telegraph

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

Manchester City lay down title challenge to United with win over Liverpool as Roberto Mancini's side bounce back

Manchester City reopen gap over United with emphatic win over Liverpool in 'crucial month' in title race for Roberto Mancini.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2012-01-04 10:12:04 from: The Telegraph

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

Manchester City lay down title challenge to United with win over Liverpool as Roberto Mancini's side bounce back

Manchester City reopen gap over United with emphatic win over Liverpool in 'crucial month' in title race for Roberto Mancini.

View the full story here: The Telegraph

A news article on 2012-01-04 10:12:04 from: The Telegraph

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

It has often been the case this season that Tottenham have had to leave out the likes of Sandro and Jermain Defoe, simply because we have had eleven players performing at an impressive and consistent level. With both Emanuel Adebayor and Rafael Van der Vaart in great goal scoring form, Defoe has repeatedly had to rely on injuries to come into the team.

Half-Term Analysis

So, we've reached the halfway stage of the season. The Reds sit in sixth place in the league and have reached the semi-finals of the Carling Cup, but the story of the season so far is a case of what might have been. We've lost three times, but have only been outplayed away at Spurs.

Sir Alex Ferguson has begun his psychological war games. The Manchester United manager has said that Tottenham are the best team at the moment. Of course Sir Alex Ferguson was talking about Britain and not Europe, after all, as good as Tottenham are they are probably not quite yet at Barcelona's level.

By Alan Duffy

'Tis been a fine season so far, with a new and rather rich kid on the block in the opulent form of Manchester City shaking things up at the top, a whole host of freakish results (see United's 8-2 win over Arsenal, City's 6-1 win over United etc), a Tottenham finally looking ready to make a serious title challenge and some impressive performances from the promoted sides.

Still sitting in third place behind the two Manchester sides, who are leading the table, Tottenham Hotspurs are feeling that they have a legitimate shot in competing for the title challenge but in order to make things easier they need something more.

According to the Lilywhites' manager, Harry Redknapp, it would be much better for his team if they can grab a big name signing this January, as that superstar can lift the team's performance into the same level as the two Manchester teams.

The African Cup of Nations is just a couple of weeks away and Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor is already predicting a tough title challenge for Manchester City.

The Citizens are set to lose their most influential player of the season so far-Yaya Toure. Yaya who was also named as the African player of the Year 2011 has been in scintillating form for City helping them to a first place finish in the league for the first time in 82 years since Christmas 1929.

Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland, White Hart Lane, Sunday 18th December, 3pm Kick off

So on Thursday night Spurs European adventure for this season came to an end, despite a 4-0 win at Shamrock. The perceived wisdom is that this is a blessing in disguise and can leave Harry Redknapp and his team to concentrate on getting Spurs back into the Champions League.

Day two of our Scottish football Advent calendar. Celtic lurk behind today's window.
Was it really just a few weeks ago that all hope was lost and Neil Lennon's job prospects looked bleaker by the match?
Celtic teetered as Rangers thrived, the SPL gap was getting bigger and the Parkhead title challenge was being written off.

Chelsea have pretty much assured football fans that they have finally picked up their form again, after hitting a slight drop in several matches ago, by successfully ending Manchester City's unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge.

Substitute veteran, Franck Lampard, acted as the protagonist for the Blues after scoring the winning goal, which arrived from the penalty spot in the second half, providing all imprtant three points that would obviously get Andre Villas-Boas team's back in the title challenge.

Berbatron's Note: Long-time Blues fan Ratna Prashanth tells us what to expect from the big money battle between the two Blues of the premier league.

Stamford bridge is going to be the venue for a great showdown tomorrow. Its Chelsea vs Man City, otherwise titled the battle of the 2 BLUE spenders.

Since we last spoke, I've completed a degree, got married and switched continents.
The Season ticket has been swapped for 10am kick-offs at Lucky Bar DC. Thankfully, some of the best Gooners in the world reside over here in the States.
Forgive me for not posting.
But, really, the reason my posting slowed up over the last few years is that, for at least the last two seasons, I found it difficult to say anything original about Arsenal.

With Arsenal and Liverpool reportedly keen to swoop for the 95-cap German forward when the January transfer window re-opens at the end of this month, Lukas Podolski has reiterated that his future at FC Cologne is undecided.
The Germany international scored both goals as Cologne salvaged a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart yesterday and, speaking afterwards, implied that his future plans were far from settled.

The done thing these days is for there to be two clubs sharing the same name, one competing in the 'official' IPL, the other in the ISL.
Arema won the ISL back in 2009/2010 but now will compete in the IPL while a 'new' Arema has been launched who will take part in the ISL. But while the IPL version will have the likes of Noh Alam Shah and M Ridhuan the ISL version has, on paper, a much weaker squad.

I see my place in the centre

Hello and I hope you're having a super Saturday. There's Arsenal today and there can't be anything bad about that. Well, not if we win the game anyway. Today sees us visiting the DW Stadium to face Wigan, a team mired in the relegation zone. After the sacking of Steve Bruce at Sunderland, it would be fair to say that Roberto Martinez will be slightly worried about his position.

THFC1882 gives a debut to Siva who previews the Bolton game for us. Siva has been a Spurs fan all his life and as the man puts it himself he was born with lilywhite in his vains! The first game Siva remembers was when he was 5 or 6, Ledley King (or Mr Spurs for Siva) is his favourite player and he likes a drink in the Bell and Hare pre match.