By FRANCO PANIZO

Timmy Chandler may have scored a goal on Saturday, but he wasn't the only U.S. men's national team defender to make an impact with his left foot.

Jonathan Spector helped rescue Birmingham City from defeat, assisting on an 87th-minute equalizer in the club's 2-2 draw with Blackpool.

With most English action taking place in the Carling Cup on Wednesday, Jonathan Spector's Birmingham City got a 1-0 league win over Leeds United at St Andrews. Spector got the start and went the distance, with Nikola Zigic scored in the 35th minute. In Serie A, Michael Bradley started for Chievo in a 1-0 home loss to Bologna.

News in the Daily Mirror today that Newcastle's Nile Ranger is wanted on loan by new Birmingham manager Chris Hughton. Nile Ranger Birmingham interested The current Birmingham strikers, Nikola Zigic and Cameron Jerome, who were one of the the weak links in the side last season because they just didn't score enough goals, are [.

News in the Daily Mirror today that Newcastle's Nile Ranger is wanted on loan by new Birmingham manager Chris Hughton. Nile Ranger Birmingham interested The current Birmingham strikers, Nikola Zigic and Cameron Jerome, who were one of the the weak links in the side last season because they just didn't score enough goals, are [.

10am ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
0-0 (a) 09.12.10
1-1 (a) 04.04.10
2-2 (h) 11.09.09
2-2 (a) 04.26.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-1 Arsenal (a); 3-0 City (h); 1-2 West Brom (a)
Brum: 1-3 Chelsea (a); 2-0 Sunderland (h); 1-1 Blackburn (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Kuyt 10; Meireles 5; Gerrard 4; Maxi 3; Carroll, Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Skrtel, Suarez 2; Cole 1
Brum: Gardner 7; Zigic 5; Ridgewell 4; Bowyer, Jerome, Larsson 3; Beausejour, Dann, Johnson 2; Fahey, Hleb, Phillips 1
Referee: Howard Webb (!

Flanagan will look to impress again... Birmingham City are the guests at Anfield tomorrow as Liverpool look to break this drawing business with the Midlands side. The last time a win was recorded for Liverpool was a League Cup tie in the 06/07 season and even then only a 1 nil lead held them up. Some interesting clashes in recent seasons including the now infamous "Ngog penalty" match mean

1. Every time United find themselves in a rubbish situation, you do have to wonder if this is going to be one of the occasions when we can't turn it around. Time and again we pull it off, which is why fans are left with faith of a result in situations they have no right to. So with so many players missing and 2-0 down on an hour played, it would probably have been fairly optimistic just hoping for a draw.

Here we go. A weekend of Premier League football is upon us and the title race is as open as ever as Manchester United travel to Liverpool and Arsenal take on Sunderland at home (without RVP or Cesc). Let's take ... Continue reading →

Another great post by Liam Blackburn. Liam has worked at The Sunday Times and The Manchester Evening News. Check out his blog at http://samenamedifferentgames.wordpress.com/. Look out for our Birmingham and Everton focused Weekend Preview column tomorrow morning. The fallout from last ... Continue reading →

Just last week we prepared for Manchester United's double gameweek with a little Berbatov vs Rooney post a debate on the value and merit of the two United strikers and their form. Not at all unexpectedly, Rooney ended up ... Continue reading →

Arsenal 1 Stoke 0
This was a good test a few days before we played Birmingham - we got to face some scummy players (good preparation for Bowyer) and we dealt with Stoke's massive aerial presence (good preparation for Zigic).
It was a game we needed to win, and I thought we did enough.

Nikola Zigic scored 3 minutes into injury time at St Andrews to give Birmingham a much needed win over Stoke 1-0 today, the win sees Birmingham leapfrog into 14th place in the EPL 3 points above the relegation zone.

By Ollie Irish

We present the best images from a quite astonishing weekend of Premier League football:

Aston Villa's new loan signing Michael Bradley is paraded at Villa Park prior to kick-off against Fulham. Cheer up, Mike.

Manchester City captain Carlos Tevez celebrates completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.

Birmingham's towering striker Nikola Zigic was the hero of this relegation dog-fight coming up trumps with a headed winner against West Ham mid-way through the second half.

The win sees Birmingham climb out of the relegation zone which sees West Ham rooted to the bottom of the EPL on goal difference.

During Birmingham City's nerve-jangling 2-2 draw with Manchester City last week, Nikola Zigic's 23rd minute equaliser was the first time a Birmingham striker has netted in the Premier League since November. That's a staggering 937 minutes of action without one of their marksmen beating a keeper.

King Kenny continues to work his magic as a Raul Meireles goal so Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 ay Stamford Bridge. Liverpool are now only six points back of Chelsea for that final Champions League spot as they remarkable revival under Kenny Dalglish continues.

The build-up to the match at Stamford Bridge had focused on the first appearance in a Chelsea shirt of Fernando Torres, but Torres was poor as he was surprisingly substituted by Carlo Ancelotti before Liverpool scored on 69 minutes.

King Kenny continues to work his magic as a Raul Meireles goal so Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 ay Stamford Bridge. Liverpool are now only six points back of Chelsea for that final Champions League spot as they remarkable revival under Kenny Dalglish continues.

The build-up to the match at Stamford Bridge had focused on the first appearance in a Chelsea shirt of Fernando Torres, but Torres was poor as he was surprisingly substituted by Carlo Ancelotti before Liverpool scored on 69 minutes.

Birmingham vs Man City St.Andrew's, Birmingham- February 2, 2011 Final score:- Birmingham vs Man City 2-2 ( Nikola Zigic, Craig Cardner pen/ Carlos Tevez, Alexsandr Kolarov) Craig Gardner's late penalty denies Manchester City all three points away at Birmingham City and widens the gap between the latter and Manchester United.

LONDON, England Manchester City lost ground to local rivals Manchester United in the Premier League title race after twice giving up the lead in a 2-2 draw away to Birmingham on Tuesday. A share of the spoils at St Andrew's left Roberto Mancini's men eight points behind leaders United, having played a game more [.

In a departure from what some may have expected, this FA Cup tie between Birmingham City and Coventry City turned into a goal fest. The home side clawed back from a two-goal deficit to end up the victors, 3-2.

Starting Formations

BIRMINGHAM FORM: For a side who has been busy in both the League as well as making the Carling Cup final, it wasn't surprising to see them rest some starters.

The Carling Cup is still a much derided competition, scoffed at and labelled a 'Mickey Mouse' Cup. And while I agree it doesn't have the charm of the FA Cup or the glamour of the Champions League, that claim is usually made by those who are knocked out or see their reserve players play in [...]

Birmingham 0-3 Arsenal - and one very annoyed Lee Bowyer

As you may have been able to tell, my previous two posts were pre-set to publish over the weekend last Thursday as I was away for a fantastic new years weekend. I hope you enjoyed the finale of the festive season as well.

Lineups are in:

Birmingham: Starters: Foster, Dann, Johnson, Ridgewell, Carr, Ferguson, Gardner, Beausejour, Larsson, Jerome, Bowyer Bench: Phillips, Fahey, Taylor, Hleb, Derbyshire, Zigic, Jiranek

Arsenal: Starters: Flaps, Sagna, Clichy, Koscielny, Djourou, Song, Wilshere, Cesc, Theo, Nasri, van Persie Bench: Wojo, Eboue, Squillaci, Denilson, Bendtner, Arshavin, Rosicky

Well, no real news with the starting lineup it was exactly as I predicted in my preview.

No it's not a misspelling, but I will take the opportunity to wish all Arsenal supporters everywhere a Very Happy New Year. And to all those of you who Yearn for silverware and titles, I offer these words of comfort.......

The season is half over. We've done well; we're 2 points off the top of the table in 3rd place.