What a game in store for us this afternoon. As was said earlier this week a barometer game. A resurgent Sunderland looking to continue their very surprising run against an Arsenal team confident as a result of last week's big win.

And yet, in my opinion both appear to be skating on thin ice.

Dimitar Berbatov, who was last season's top scorer in the Premier League, is disappointed with how few games he's played this season, but claims he won't be speaking the media about his current situation.

He has scored 7 goals in 10 league appearances this season but has spent most of the season as fourth choice behind Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.

Official D.C. United Press Release:
D.C. United acquires forward Hamdi Salihi as Designated Player
28-year old Albanian international has scored 163 goals in 289 professional matches
Washington, D.C. (February 2, 2012) – D.C. United announced today the club has signed 28-year old forward Hamdi Salihi as a Designated Player.

Folowing Liverpool's great 3-0 win at Molineaux in which Andy Carroll, Craig Bellamy & Dirk Kuyt all scored, Bellamy has emerged as Liverpool's top scorer so far, this Season with a total of 9 goals in all competitions compared to the controversially suspended Luis Suarez's 8 thus far.
Can't wait to see the two of them play together in a Red shirt.

Cardiff City keeper Tom Heaton was the hero for the Bluebirds as they edged out Crystal Palace in an absorbing cup clash at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Heaton saved two penalties in the shoot-out to send Cardiff to the Carling Cup Final at the expense of Dougie Freedman's spirited Palace side.

The bench-bound scoring "siren"....

John Nyen on the enigma that is Sir Carlos Tevez

The man on the keyboards pounds out the rhythms to the beat as the two brothers swap verses.

Of the two front men, one is a skinnier kid, while the other is dressed in a soccer kit.

Liverpool set up a Carling Cup final against Cardiff after playing out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester City at Anfield to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, City quickly drew level on aggregate thanks to a superb long-range strike from defensive midfielder Nigel de Jong that flew into the top corner.

By Chris Wright

There were amazing scenes in Spain last night, where third tier part-timers CD Mirandés beat La Liga side Espanyol 2-1 in injury time at the tiny, 6,000-capacity Anduva Stadium to secure themselves a 4-4 aggregate (away goals) win and a berth in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey in the process.

Henrique: still off to QPR?

São Paulo director, João Paulo de Jesus Lopes, says that the door has not been shut on forward Henrique's transfer to QPR. The Morumbi club say that contrary to earlier reports, Henrique has not been denied a UK work visa. "The truth is the visa wasn't turned down.

Swedish international and AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named Serie's A's best player for 2011. This comes as no surprise bearing the season he had with the Rossoneri.

The annual award ceremony which was held in Milan, is voted for by Serie A players and recognises the best player, best coach, best club and the best referee.

Super Sunday is one again upon us with a couple of high profile fixtures worth watching. Manchester United travel to London to face Arsenal in the return fixture of the match they won 8-2 at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

The other big fixture of the day sees league leaders Manchester City host 3rd place Tottenham at the Etihad stadium in a day that could see their lead atop the EPL table extended or cut.

By Saf Hossain, writing hours after returning from Craven Cottage

Attending a live match is, obviously, an entirely different experience to watching on TV. When you are free of the director's control, you might choose to follow an individual on the field for long periods of the game.

Many are labelling this weekend's game as a grudge match with Spurs seeking revenge for the beating they received at White Hart Lane earlier in the season. According to a recent poll by Sky Sports, Spurs are also the favourites to win the league, no doubt partly due to the new-found hatred that City has acquired.

Arsenal relying on van Persie and midfield strength to beat Manchester United - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

In August Manchester United and Wayne Rooney inflicted a resounding 8-2 defeat on Arsenal, with Rooney netting a hat-trick. However, since then it is Robin van Persie who has lit up the Premier League.

In the summer of 2006 Manchester United were written off. Chelsea had just won the league with ease and added one of the best players in the world for each position to their squad. Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko joined them, whilst in contrast we sold our top scorer, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and didn't replace him, and brought in Michael Carrick, who was hardly the midfield general the fans had been hoping for.

Moussa Sow has come out and said he wants to play in the Premier League and he describes the opportunity of joining Liverpool as his 'Dream Move'.

Sow was last season's top scorer in Ligue 1, scoring 25 goals. He would help fill the massive void in Liverpool's attacking options.

He told Sky Sports: "I am at Lille now but as we all know I want to play in England one day.

Lille forward Moussa Sow has spoken of his admiration for Liverpool, amidst rumours that the 25-year-old is thinking of leaving the French champions during the January transfer window.
Sow was the top scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 25 league goals as he helped his side win the title but in recent weeks reports have suggested that he may look to leave and now the Senegal international has spoken in glowing terms about Liverpool.

Columbus Crew forward Emilio Renteria and Chivas USA forward Alejandro Moreno are among the players called in for Venezuela's friendly against the United States on Jan. 21 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Former New York Red Bulls defender Gabriel Cichero is also part of the 24-man group that will face Mexico in Houston four days later.

If ever there was a match made in Heaven in the footballing world, it would have to be between Arsenal and Thierry Henry, who have found each other again after a five-year absence, with the magic the same as it ever was.

It was an otherwise drab encounter, with little to get excited about as a makeshift Arsenal team struggled to break down a determined and dogged Leeds side coming with only one intention a lucrative replay.

Despite Cristiano Ronaldo's impressive form which is seeing him lead the top scorer's list in the Spanish La Liga, it is looking very likely that Messi will win the FIFA Ballon d'Or for a 3rd consecutive year when the gala takes places on Monday.

Ronaldo's muted celebrations against Granada yesterday are fueling a lot of rumours that the Portuguese star could be on the verge of a break down especially with the constant comparisons to Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Demba Ba savouring his strike against Man Utd

A lot of clubs would love to get their hands on Demba Ba, riding one of the hottest streaks in the Premiership. His fifteen goals is second only to Robin Van Persie. So it wasn't surprising when Harry Redknapp set off alarm bells when he said Ba had a "release clause" in his Newcastle contract.

Written by FatGingerGooner

Much has been written recently in both the tabloids and on blog sites about Arsenal's need for a striking partner/understudy for RvP, so with the transfer window well and truly upon us, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to look at the possible candidates for the position.

New York Red Bulls and former France international striker Thierry Henry has returned to Arsenal FC on a two month loan deal. The all-time Arsenal top scorer may make his...

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is likely to rotate his squad for the game against the League One Latics.
That could mean recalls for defenders Jamie Carragher and Sebastian Coates, who have not started since the Carling Cup win at Chelsea in late November.
Striker Luis Suarez serves the second game of an eight-match ban, but captain Steven Gerrard will probably be given another chance to continue building up his sharpness having made three substitute appearances following his comeback from an ankle infection.

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish insists he has not had any contact with Liverpool about a possible move for Darren Bent.
Rumours have suggested Liverpool are weighing up a move for Bent as they look to bring in cover in attack with Luis Suarez currently serving an eight-game ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish admits they will miss Luis Suarez as he serves his eight-match ban - but insists they have to look past the Uruguay international's absence.
The club announced they had decided not to appeal against the Football Association punishment imposed for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra just over an hour before the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City.

1. Back to back defeats for Manchester United now against teams we should not be losing to. Blackburn have been woeful this season and Newcastle have had a pretty poor record at home. We are of course missing important players like Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverley but that isn't a good enough excuse for not getting the wake up call we should have had after the Blackburn result.

Jamie Redknapp has called on some of Liverpool's goal-shy players to step up and fill the void left by Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan - Liverpool's top scorer this season with eight goals - will miss the club's next seven games after they chose not to appeal against his suspension for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

Goals:
Agüero 10'
Yaya Toure 33'
Milner 75' (pen)
Mistakes punished by cruel, efficient competency combined with continued Liverpool impotence in front of goal. An added bonus of a referee error, a game-ending penalty given for Yaya Toure's dive, mere moments after fleeting good fortune when Barry saw red for two soft yellows.

Ever since Pep said this: "Because of the injury of Villa we're thinking about promoting Soriano. Problem is he then can't go back to the B-team" in his press conference today, I've been getting q lot of questions about Soriano and his possible promotion. I'm going to address hopefully everything here, adapted from the transfer piece I wrote last summer.

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.

Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the "Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).

Truth be told I'd prefer the 2002 vintage, but I'd be lying if I said I was completely cold about the possible return of Sir Thierry of Henry. It's difficult not to be taken in by the romance of our all-time top scorer coming back for a few months, even if he is now one score and fourteen years old.

Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle United: Skipper Returns To Help Sink Magpies

Steven Gerrard's return from injury continued as he came off the bench to help inspire Liverpool to victory over Newcastle United. The talismanic skipper produced a wonderful half-hour cameo as his goal combined with a brace from ex-Magpie Craig Bellamy moved Liverpool into fifth place.

Even the return of Steven Gerrard cannot end Andy Carroll's barren run | Richard Williams

Liverpool's captain came on and lifted his team but the £35m striker from Newcastle could not capitalise against his old club When Steven Gerrard finally arrived to sort out the lamentable crossing that had hobbled Liverpool's efforts during the first hour, Andy Carroll began to look like a centre-forward once again.

The Philadelphia Union have brought in a few international players during the offseason to bolster the team's roster ahead of the 2012 MLS season, but it appears that a veteran German striker isn't in the team's plans.

Michael Thurk, who has been linked to the Union since the 2011 summer transfer window, is not on his way to MLS, especially Philadelphia or the Vancouver Whitecaps, according to reports out of Germany.

Arsenal are set to offer their former striker Thierry Henry a 2 month loan deal this January after the 34 year old impressed Arsene Wenger during his recent training spell with the club.

Henry is regarded as the club's best striker having scored an impressive 226 goals for Arsenal in a span of 8 years making him the club's all time leading top scorer.

Kenny Dalglish warns against too great expectations of Steven Gerrard

• Midfielder is back after illness and injury • Andy Carroll set to play against former club Kenny Dalglish has warned against expecting too much, too soon from Steven Gerrard, who is back fit again and available to face Newcastle United for Liverpool at Anfield on Friday night.

Dimitar Berbatov was the Premier League's top scorer seven months ago and lifted a record breaking 19th title with Manchester United. He has been fourth choice striker at the club this season though, behind Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez.

The club tried to sell the striker in the summer following his omission from the Champions League final squad but the player wasn't having any of it, determined to stay on our books and fight for his place and has behaved admirably since.

Cate celebrates with Ted Chronopoulos after setting up Chronopoulos' second goal in a 2-1 win over D.C. United at Foxboro Stadium on August 18, 2001. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

Former New England Revolution striker Marco Antônio Lemos Tozzi, better known as Catê, passed away on Tuesday morning in a car accident in his native Brazil.