If you’re a football fan, there’s a lot to look forward to in the remainder of November, as we will see some of the game’s biggest names go head-to-head on multiple fronts over the next week-plus.

Watch the best of Premier League action this Christmas with Sky HD. Already have Sky? Upgrade to Sky Sports online and save £5. Get Sky HD or upgrade to Sky Sports now.

English Premier League: Liverpool v Manchester City

The big match-up of the weekend takes place at Anfield, as Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday at 4:00 pm BST in a clash that shouldn’t be short on action.

City currently sit top of the English Premier League, whereas Liverpool are sixth, a whopping 12 points behind City. However, Liverpool are coming off of a vital 2-1 win at Chelsea, so their confidence should be very high. That’s not Liverpool first’s noteworthy win of the season, as they won at Arsenal in August, so they’re certainly capable of not only hanging with City but defeating them as well.

Sunday, 27th November 3:30pm on Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports HD 1 and Sky 3D.

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid will host local rivals Atletico MAdrid on Saturday at the Santiago Benabeu. Real will hope to maintain the three point lead and Atletico will hope to take a step towards getting out of the middle of the table.

Despite featuring talented players like Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan in the past, they have failed to beat their rivals as a vast gap of funds has come between them. If things are ever going to change in this rivalry, this is certainly not the time.

Real Madrid will be and should be able to maintain their three point lead ahead of the mighty Barcelona as the Catalans will lock horns with Getafe later in the same day.

Angel Di Maria is expected to return after he has been out since early November when he suffered an injury in the 7-1 stomping of Osasuna. Brazilian midfielder Diego will have to play a key role if Atletico wants to unsettle the Galacticos.

Saturday, 26th November 7:00pm on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD 1.

Carling Cup: Arsenal v Manchester City

Next week marks the return of the Carling Cup, with the four quarterfinal matches set to take place on 29th and 30th November.

After their tough test at Liverpool, it doesn’t get any easier for Manchester City, as they must visit Arsenal in a Carling Cup quarterfinal, with the match kicking off at 8:00 pm BST. City haven’t won at Arsenal since a 3-2 win in October 1975, but if there’s ever a time and situation to do it, this is it.

But after a slow start, Arsenal have been one of the hottest teams in the Premier League, and they’ve been a strong team at home this season. And after falling agonizingly short of the trophy last season, you can be sure Arsenal won’t let the chance slip by this season, so the Gunners will certainly be gunning for the win at home.

Being that it’s the Carling Cup, we may not see either team put out the strongest starting XI possible, but we should still see quite a few notable names out there, so this should prove to be an exciting encounter.

Tuesday, 29th November 7:30pm on Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports HD 2 and Sky 3D.

Watch Live Football On Sky HD

Don’t miss out on any live Premier League games over the holidays – with Sky Go, you can watch live football wherever you are over the holiday season, on your iPad, iPhone or laptop. Get Sky Go.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chelsea host Fulham in one of several all-Premier League ties in the third round of the Carling Cup. Manchester United are away to Leeds while Liverpool, who seem to be taking the Carling Cup very seriously this season, are away to Brighton.

Other domestic cup title contenders include the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal, who are home to Birmingham and Shrewsbury respectively.

Everton host West Brom, Villa host Bolton and Europa League qualifiers Stoke City and Tottenham will also square off.

Draw for the third round of the 2011/2012 Carling Cup:

Cardiff City v Leicester City
Wolves v Millwall
Chelsea v Fulham
Aldershot Town or Carlisle United v Rochdale
Arsenal v Shrewsbury Town
Burnley v MK Dons
Leeds United v Manchester United
Brighton v Liverpool
Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United
Manchester City v Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers v Leyton Orient or Bristol Rovers
Swindon Town or Southampton v Charlton or Preston North End
Everton v West Brom
Crystal Palace or Wigan v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers
Stoke City v Tottenham Hotspur

Ties played week commencing 19 September.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Liverpool were drawn away to League One side Exeter in the second round of the Carling Cup, while city rivals Everton will host Sheffield United.

Meanwhile, Doncaster host Leeds in a Yorkshire derby, while Sunderland face a long trip south to Brighton.

Macclesfield will travel to Premier League side Bolton, while fellow giant-killers Northampton will host Wolves.

Five first-round ties are yet to be played after they were postponed following rioting across the country.

The eight clubs involved in European competition will enter at the third-round stage.

The second-round ties will be played in the week beginning 22 August.

Carling Cup second round draw:

Millwall v Morecambe
Blackburn v Sheffield Wednesday
Bury v Leicester
West Ham/Aldershot v Carlisle
Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
Crystal Palace/Crawley v Wigan
Peterborough v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v Hereford
Bristol City/Swindon v Southampton
Exeter v Liverpool
Everton v Sheffield United
Brighton v Sunderland
Shrewsbury v Swansea
Reading/Charlton v Preston
Norwich v Milton Keynes Dons
Northampton v Wolves
Wycombe v Nottingham Forest
Bolton v Macclesfield
Burnley v Barnet
Scunthorpe v Newcastle
Leyton Orient v Watford/Bristol Rovers
Doncaster v Leeds
Cardiff v Huddersfield
QPR v Rochdale

Ties to be played in the week commencing 22 August.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

A day before the Carling Cup final, an Arsenal fan told me that Arsenal had requested permission for Cesc Fabregas to lift the Carling Cup trophy if Arsenal were to win at Wembley. The conversation turned to the merits of Carling Cup success vs the damage a defeat would have, and both of us reached the same conclusion: Arsenal not winning the Premier League title this season would be a much bigger blow than losing the Carling Cup final.

Of course, things are relative. The knock-on effect of losing to Birmingham / injuries suffered in the build-up and during the game could lead Arsenal to blow their title charge. The renewed focus on ‘winning silverware’ could cause Arsenal to fight harder for the FA Cup, another campaign that would take their eye away from the big two prizes – Champions League and Premier League.

But that’s in the future, and this is not a predictive piece (you can read my title predictions here). What matters right now is the Carling Cup final, and what Arsenal can learn from it.

Birmingham simply played better than Arsenal

First off, Arsenal are many things but they are not chokers. It’s an important distinction to make, because it’s equally easy to lap up the accepted ‘wisdom’ that Arsenal are ‘mentally weak’ and use that flawed argument to justify everything else. Arsenal on Sunday night were average, perhaps nervous with the pressure of being favourites, perhaps complacent at key junctures of the match thinking they had the upper hand. As would be expected, they had more shots on target than Birmingham but were also the beneficiaries of refereeing errors that kept them in the game early on.

They need to learn how to keep their nerves a la United (2007 to 2009) and Chelsea (2004/2005), but more than that, they need to put this performance in the right perspective. This wasn’t a case of Arsenal being outplayed or muscled off the park. This was an Arsenal side that lost despite dominating in the latter half of the game. An Arsenal side that lost to a stupid mistake that comes when you play young inexperienced kids.

Secondly, Arsenal know that they still have the edge in the Premier League title race. They have an easier run-in, and this weekend’s results apart, United have looked the more fragile team in the last month or so. Arsenal will play United at the Emirates but the title race could be decided this week with United due to travel to Stamford Birdge and Anfield (Tuesday and Sunday). It’s not going to be easy for United, and all Arsenal need to do now is to hold their nerve. At least they made their mistake in the Carling Cup and not in the league. Injuries would be a much greater worry for Arsenal at this point than ‘mental weakness’.

Arsenal should expect better

I wrote about the contrasting styles of Ferguson and Wenger a couple of years ago, and that comparison bears revisiting after this game. If we’re agreed that long-staying club managers aim to mould their teams into their own image, then we have to wonder if the problem with Arsenal is, simply, that Wenger hasn’t been able to teach his charges how to handle the pressure of being favourites on a regular basis. They’ve done well when cast as the underdogs – too well, at times, which raises expectations on the players. For all his cultured mannerisms Wenger is passionate and a fighter, and those qualities come to the fore when it’s about the team fighting for survival. However, handling the pressure of the ‘favourites’ tag requires a calmness and presence of mind that gets lost in emotions – and Arsenal were full of emotion going into the final.

If there’s any mistake Arsenal made in the build-up to this game, it was to take the final too seriously. Arsenal, Wenger, the players – all guilty of hyping up the game more than it needed to be, and raising expectations around players who have yet to be accustomed to success.

Ben Foster, Birmingham City’s goalkeeper, had an interesting story to tell about his time at Manchester United – that after the Carling Cup win of 2009, it was business as usual at training for the lads, no celebrations being allowed to interfere with upcoming games. You might have heard the story about Giggs, in the team huddle after United’s Champions League win in 2008, reminding the players that they need to do it again the next season. You might have laughed at Neville’s outrageously single-minded commitment to the game.

What you can’t laugh at though, is Manchester United’s record in the last two decades. And it comes from a mixture of experience, critical mistakes, sustained brilliance and sheer perseverance. Arsenal have the capacity to do the same, more so than other rival teams thanks to the stability around the club. You might look at Arsenal and say they’re not good enough. I think the problem isn’t that they’re not good enough, it’s just that they need to start expecting more from themselves, and stop hiding behind smokescreens.

I’m not talking about the public-facing corporate speak – keep that up if you want. But internally, Arsenal need to expect better from themselves. Leave the smokescreens for fans to console themselves with. It would be naive to consider that Arsenal don’t have high expectations from themselves, but they need to reconsider what they constitute as success. Outside, they can say whatever they want. Internally, only titles should matter. On the pitch or off it, only winning should suffice.

We talk about football being more than just a business. From a results perspective, Arsenal need to be reminded of that too.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Arsenal vs Birmingham
Carling Cup Final
Wembley Stadium, London
Sunday 27th February, 2011
16:00 BST

By kick-off on Sunday afternoon, five years, 9 months and 6 days will have passed us all by since Patrick Vieira clipped his winning penalty past Roy Carroll‘s despairing fingertips -  a calm stroke of the Frenchman’s right boot that ensured Arsenal ended the afternoon with FA Cup-winners medals slung around their necks.

Since that final in Cardiff, Vieira has moved on to Man City via two different Italian cities, Arsenal have moved stadium and over 3 million minutes have drifted away into the ether without Arsene Wenger‘s side procuring themselves anything to furnish the disconcertingly barren trophy cabinets at their new place.

Earlier in the season Wenger raised more than a few eyebrows by vowing to make a concerted effort to win this season’s Carling Cup after effectively dismissing the competition ever since being sworn in at Highbury back in  1996 – using the games as nothing more than jumped-up reserve and youth team run-outs on the majority of occasions, without any real concerns over progressing through the latter stages of the tournament.

To outsiders looking in, it seemed that the man that once claimed winning the Carling Cup ‘didn’t warrant a trophy parade’ was showing clear signs of desperation in his bid to validate his youth-orientated modus operandi.

Birmingham don't have a good recent record against Arsenal

Birmingham will be appearing in the third League Cup final (as opposed to Arsenal’s seventh) after last won the competition way back in 1963 – beating local rivals Aston Villa 3-1 over a two-legged affair.

The Blues’ last final appearance was in 2001, when they eventually losing 5-4 on penalties to Gerard Houllier‘s Liverpool after defender Darren Purse scored an equaliser in the last-minute of normal time – ironically from the penalty spot.

Manager Alex McLeish will be hoping that the afternoon runs smoother than his attempts to get his side ‘suited and booted’ for the occasion, after a joint dalliance between the players and suppliers Harvey Nichols saw the club’s £9,000 order filed too late for the suits to be delivered in time for the pre-match amble on the Wembley turf.

Incidentally, Arsenal have won both of the Premier League meetings between the two sides this season, beating Birmingham 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in October and leaving St Andrews having won 3-0 on New Year’s Day.

In their one previous Carling Cup meeting, a third round game at Highbury in 1997, Arsenal’s reserve side routed Birmingham during extra time – eventually winning the tie 4-1, despite being a goal down at the end of 90 minutes.

Arsenal’s Road to the Final:

• Second round: Bye
  
• Third round: Tottenham 1-4 (a.e.t) Arsenal
• Fourth round: Newcastle 0-4 Arsenal
• Fifth round: Arsenal 2-0 Wigan

• Semi-finals (1st leg): Ipswich 1-0 Arsenal
• Semi-finals (2nd leg): Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (Arsenal win 3-1 on agg.)

Birmingham’s Road to the Final:

• Second round: Birmingham 3-2 Rochdale
• Third round: Birmingham 3-1 MK Dons
• Fourth round: Birmingham 1-1 Brentford (Birmingham win 4-3 on pens)
• Fifth round: Birmingham 2-1 Aston Villa

• Semi-finals (1st leg): West Ham 2-1 Birmingham
• Semi-finals (2nd leg): Birmingham 3-1 (a.e.t) West Ham (Birmingham win 4-3 on agg.)

Selection and Injury Updates:

After spraining his ankle in Arsenal’s narrow Premier League victory over Stoke earlier this week, winger Theo Walcott is certain to miss the final, though doubts remain as to whether Cesc Fabregas will be fit in time.

Fabregas limped from the field after 14 minutes of the aforementioned game with a hamstring problem, and whilst his personal trainer has claimed the Spaniard should be fully recovered by Sunday, Arsene Wenger has ruled his captain out of the running.

Arsenal will also be giving late tests to Robin van Persie (hamstring) and Laurent Koscielny (back), though the club have confirmed that ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski and Thomas Vermaelen will definitely miss the game.

Birmingham are going to be putting defensive duo Liam Ridgewell (calf) and Martin Jiranek (hip) through their paces on Saturday afternoon, though it’s thought that both players will have recovered sufficiently to play the following day.

However, Scott Dann (hamstring), Eric Valles (ankle) and James McFadden (knee) are- and will continue to be- sidelined.

Prediction:

The Gunners to end their half-decade barren streak, though not particularly convincingly…

Arsenal 2-1 Birmingham

Watch the Carling Cup Final Live

You can watch the Carling Cup final live online as well as dozens of other Premier League and European football games. Read our Carling Cup live football page for more details.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Arsenal vs Birmingham
Carling Cup Final
Wembley Stadium, London
Sunday 27th February, 2011
15:00 BST

By kick-off on Sunday afternoon, five years, 9 months and 6 days will have passed us all by since Patrick Vieira clipped his winning penalty past Roy Carroll‘s despairing fingertips -  a calm stroke of the Frenchman’s right boot that ensured Arsenal ended the afternoon with FA Cup-winners medals slung around their necks.

Since that final in Cardiff, Vieira has moved on to Man City via two different Italian cities, Arsenal have moved stadium and over 3 million minutes have drifted away into the ether without Arsene Wenger‘s side procuring themselves anything to furnish the disconcertingly barren trophy cabinets at their new place.

Earlier in the season Wenger raised more than a few eyebrows by vowing to make a concerted effort to win this season’s Carling Cup after effectively dismissing the competition ever since being sworn in at Highbury back in  1996 – using the games as nothing more than jumped-up reserve and youth team run-outs on the majority of occasions, without any real concerns over progressing through the latter stages of the tournament.

To outsiders looking in, it seemed that the man that once claimed winning the Carling Cup ‘didn’t warrant a trophy parade’ was showing clear signs of desperation in his bid to validate his youth-orientated modus operandi.

Birmingham don't have a good recent record against Arsenal

Birmingham will be appearing in the third League Cup final (as opposed to Arsenal’s seventh) after last won the competition way back in 1963 – beating local rivals Aston Villa 3-1 over a two-legged affair.

The Blues’ last final appearance was in 2001, when they eventually losing 5-4 on penalties to Gerard Houllier‘s Liverpool after defender Darren Purse scored an equaliser in the last-minute of normal time – ironically from the penalty spot.

Manager Alex McLeish will be hoping that the afternoon runs smoother than his attempts to get his side ‘suited and booted’ for the occasion, after a joint dalliance between the players and suppliers Harvey Nichols saw the club’s £9,000 order filed too late for the suits to be delivered in time for the pre-match amble on the Wembley turf.

Incidentally, Arsenal have won both of the Premier League meetings between the two sides this season, beating Birmingham 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in October and leaving St Andrews having won 3-0 on New Year’s Day.

In their one previous Carling Cup meeting, a third round game at Highbury in 1997, Arsenal’s reserve side routed Birmingham during extra time – eventually winning the tie 4-1, despite being a goal down at the end of 90 minutes.

Arsenal’s Road to the Final:

• Second round: Bye
  
• Third round: Tottenham 1-4 (a.e.t) Arsenal
• Fourth round: Newcastle 0-4 Arsenal
• Fifth round: Arsenal 2-0 Wigan

• Semi-finals (1st leg): Ipswich 1-0 Arsenal
• Semi-finals (2nd leg): Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich (Arsenal win 3-1 on agg.)

Birmingham’s Road to the Final:

• Second round: Birmingham 3-2 Rochdale
• Third round: Birmingham 3-1 MK Dons
• Fourth round: Birmingham 1-1 Brentford (Birmingham win 4-3 on pens)
• Fifth round: Birmingham 2-1 Aston Villa

• Semi-finals (1st leg): West Ham 2-1 Birmingham
• Semi-finals (2nd leg): Birmingham 3-1 (a.e.t) West Ham (Birmingham win 4-3 on agg.)

Selection and Injury Updates:

After spraining his ankle in Arsenal’s narrow Premier League victory over Stoke earlier this week, winger Theo Walcott is certain to miss the final, though doubts remain as to whether Cesc Fabregas will be fit in time.

Fabregas limped from the field after 14 minutes of the aforementioned game with a hamstring problem, and whilst his personal trainer has claimed the Spaniard should be fully recovered by Sunday, Arsene Wenger has ruled his captain out of the running.

Arsenal will also be giving late tests to Robin van Persie (hamstring) and Laurent Koscielny (back), though the club have confirmed that ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski and Thomas Vermaelen will definitely miss the game.

Birmingham are going to be putting defensive duo Liam Ridgewell (calf) and Martin Jiranek (hip) through their paces on Saturday afternoon, though it’s thought that both players will have recovered sufficiently to play the following day.

However, Scott Dann (hamstring), Eric Valles (ankle) and James McFadden (knee) are- and will continue to be- sidelined.

Prediction:

The Gunners to end their half-decade barren streak, though not particularly convincingly…

Arsenal 2-1 Birmingham

Watch Arsenal v Birmingham Live

You can watch Arsenal v Birmingham live online as well as dozens of other Premier League and European football games. Read our Carling Cup live football page for more details.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Judging by the considerable hike in both steward and police presence at St. Andrews (over 500 West Midlands officers were drafted in for the occasion), it’s pretty clear that the relevant authorities were envisaging a bit of a feisty affair between second city rivals Birmingham and Aston Villa in the Carling Cup last night – although the ugly tension that swarmed after the final whistle could, in these supposedly enlightened times, hardly have been preempted.

During the game itself, the two sets of opposing supporters provided a magnificent bristling maelstrom of noise that seemed to marry perfectly with the exciting, fractious football on display.

However, the friction brimmed over as the game culminated when, having seen their side run out as dramatically late 2-1 winners, thousands of Birmingham fans stormed across the length of the pitch to goad the Villa fans who were located in the Gil Merrick Stand at the opposite end of the stadium.

A hail of saliva and make-shift missiles ensued, with a gaudy red flare sent spiralling from the pitch into the Villa section of the crowd and back over the police cordon again before plastic seats, uprooted from the terraces, were hurled back and forth between the two sets of irate supporters.

The fact that Sky Sports were forced to show the violence in replay after breaking for commercials after the game indicates the relative brevity of the trouble in the ground, but reports quickly filtered through of similar incidents taking place in the area surrounding the stadium – with five arrests made in conjunction with a fracas in a local pub, amongst various other acts of petty vandalism.

In the aftermath, West Midlands Police confirmed that 14 people (including four police officers) had been admitted to hospital for treatment to minor injuries, whilst two police dogs had also been injured after being struck by a couple of wayward missiles.

A flare is hurled back onto the St. Andrews pitch

The FA, presumably with one eye on ‘damage limitation’ ahead of the World Cup voting in Zurich this afternoon, have since moved to condemn the ‘abhorrent’ scenes that ensued post-game – with a spokesman confirming that a hard-line probe into the violence will be carried out accordingly:

“We wholly condemn the actions of any individuals who have been involved in the scenes of disorder at St Andrew’s.

The FA abhors acts of violent behaviour and we urge the clubs and authorities to identify any individuals involved in disorder, and impose the stiffest available sanctions, including banning orders.

The FA will fully investigate the matter. The whole of English football has worked hard to eradicate scenes of disorder from our game, with Home Office figures this week showing a significant drop in arrests at the many thousands of football matches held every week, the majority of which still pass trouble free.”

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish also admitted that the incendiary actions of his side’s supporters had ‘soured’ the club’s hard-fought victory over their near neighbours, also branding the night’s developments as a ‘return to the dark ages’ of football hooliganism:

“That was horrible to see the punters running on the pitch – it’s from the dark ages. We don’t condone that at all.

I know we have not beaten Villa for a while, and the fans were treating it like a cup final. But when you see flares being thrown into the crowd, it’s not something you want to be associated with.

Fans shouldn’t come on to the pitch at any time; that’s the disappointing aspect, and that sours it a bit for me.”

Both clubs have also vowed to help weed out the minority of meat-heads who fueled the torrid post-match debacle, with Birmingham promising an ‘impartial investigation’ and Villa pledging their ‘full co-operation’ therein.

I’m sure it won’t have much of a bearing considering that all of the bribery and glad-handing is out of the way now but, with the World Cup 2018 voting set to get underway in a few hours time, let’s just hope that the only things that the tiny-minded pricks responsible for the escalating trouble at St. Andrews have actually managed to ruin was a few wing-mirrors and an undeniably cracking evening of derby-day football.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

With both starting elevens full of fringe players and youngsters, the match promised to be full of entertainment from the beginning and it did just that.  Newcastle came close first, with Ranger taking the ball past Szczesny only to hit the ball against the Koscielny’s leg.  Moments later Alan Smith, captaining the side this evening, blasts the rebound against the cross bar, with the help from a fingertip save from the Polish keeper.

The first half an hour seemed to be all Newcastle, with Ranger through again, this time only failing to see an unmarked Lovenkrands to his right.  He fluffed his pass and Arsenal cleared.  James Perch received a kick in his shin from Eastmond, similar to the tackle on Ben Arfa, but was alright to continue playing.

The young Slovenian player, Vuckic, combined with the Smith to play the ball into Lovenkrands, however the Danish striker was clearly offside.

In the last 15 minutes Arsenal managed to make Newcastle sweat by creating numerous chances which could of given them a 2 goal lead.  First Bendtner weaved through 2 Newcastle defenders only to scuff his shot straight to Tim Krul.

Then Eboue  skipped past Ryan Taylor and could of easily played in 1 of the 3 Arsenal players in the box, however he went for the glory and hit the side netting.

More chances for Arsenal went flooding by, and right at the death of the first half, Tim Krul came rushing out and punched clear a corner, only for the ball to be headed back in.  Ryan Taylor, positioned on the goal line nodded the ball away, which bounced off the Dutch keepers head and went in the net.

In the second half the game turned into nail biting, end-to-end entertainment and Vuckic started it off by weaving in between 3 Arsenal players, but when Lovenkrands received the pass, he was offside.

Perch tried to make up for his questionable performances in the Premier League, but when Guthrie crossed the ball from a corner, the defender headed the ball narrowly over.

Walcott was too fast for the young Hungarian, Kadar, but eventually ran the ball out of play and failed to challenge the keeper.  However the next time he was played in he was through on goal, as Bendtner (who was clearly offside) collided with Williamson who was trying to track back.  This left him one on one with Tim Krul and he slotted it home to make it 0-2.

Newcastle continued to fight back with plenty of half-chances, and substitutes Gutierrez and Barton really made a difference when it came to advancing up the pitch.

Another corner from Guthrie was crossed deep to Williamson who headed the ball back over the box, however Ranger nodded the ball down for the Arsenal goalkeeper to collect.

Seconds later, Bendtner received the ball from a throw in and managed to cut into the area and curled the ball around Krul to give the Gunners a 3 goal lead.

The best Newcastle chance came from a Ryan Taylor free kick, however Andy Carroll’s header went over the bar.  Ryan Taylor, again with a free kick, curled the ball round the wall, which provoked a one handed save from Szczesny, who denied a great goal.

Theo Walcott, again tore Newcastle’s defence apart with his speed and copied his earlier goal to slide the ball past Krul, ended the Arsenal rout.

A brave Newcastle side was defeated by a powerful and attacking Arsenal, however the difference between the two sides is that one team needs silverware and the other will settle for Premier League survival.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Some footballing headlines are just so unfathomably inevitable that they may as well remain unreported, with the masses left to just assume that Occam was right about his razor and that parsimony has indeed prevailed.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that, despite being pencilled in to return to action against Wolves in the Carling Cup last night, Manchester United striker Michael Owen was forced to pull out of proceedings after feeling his warm-chocolate hamstrings ping yet again during a training session the day before.

Owen had been sidelined since October 2nd, when he limped out of United’s Premier League stalemate with Sunderland at the interval after suffering a groin strain late in the first half.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, Owen regaled the details of his latest setback:

“I had a tight groin quite a while ago and then I trained for a week in preparing for last night’s game (against Wolves), but had a setback in training with a different muscle injury, so unfortunately that ruled me out for last night and is going to rule me out for a few weeks as well.”

Owen rolled home United’s equaliser in last season’s 2-1 Carling Cup final victory over Aston Villa back in February of this year, before aggravating an existing hamstring injury (giving way to Wayne Rooney, who duly went on to notch the winner) which duly ruled him out for the rest of the season.

He then started in the Community Shield match six months later, going on to make a further six appearances for United this term, scoring three goals in the process, before the injury at Sunderland served to yet again curtail his gathering momentum.

Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez: Owen's heir apparent at Old Trafford?

Despite the staccato rhythm that his career now seems to have undertaken, 30-year-old Owen also insisted to Five Live that he is much more content to collect his considerable wages on the physio’s table at Carrington take a cameo role at a club challenging for trophies on several fronts than move to a relatively smaller club where first-team opportunities may be a little more prevalent:

“I’ve played in some of the biggest clubs in the world over my career and I’ve had not such a good time at certain clubs where I’ve been in the relegation zone struggling away.

Training with top players every day, being among the elite players is what I enjoy doing more.

And if that means not playing as much but playing in a good team with good players creating chances, then I’d prefer to do that than slog away every week and hardly get a touch of the ball.”

Which says it all really. The fact that 22 of his 37 appearances since joining United in 2009 have been as a substitute just serves to highlight the fact that Owen is never going to be the player he once was (indeed, he was crowned Footballer of the Year back in 2001), and it seems that it is only his trophy-lusting ego that is keeping him going.

With the recent fruition of a certain ‘little pea’ at Old Trafford, it seems that United have an adept (and much more supple) replacement waiting in the wings.

Whereas the predatory instincts and finishing capabilities of old may still be there, Owen’s body has been repeatedly sending him unignorable signs for the last four or five years and all good soldiers should really know when their war is over.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has vowed to abandon his policy of blooding members of his ever-burgeoning creche during the early rounds of the Carling Cup, in lieu of making a concerted effort to actually win something this time out – thus ending the club’s  five-year spell of ultimately pointless dry-humping.

Whereas in the past Wenger would make use of the oft-derided competition to merely hand many of his fledglings a taste of cup football (under the pretense of ‘first-team’ football) without any real concerns over progressing through the tournament, if his comments at Arsenal’s recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) are anything to go by, the Frenchman is now willing to take anything he can get to end the club’s half-decade barren streak (the 2005 FA Cup, if you were wondering):

“[Arsenal] will go for every single competition with every resource we have. First of all because we have a big squad and, as well, I believe we have a good enough squad to now go forward and win trophies.

That’s why I think: ‘Okay, let’s go as far as we can’.

If needed we can still always choose later but, at the moment, it is important for everybody to think we go for everything we can. I said to the players we will go for everything we can, as simple as that. And not really specifying one more than the other.”

Wenger also stressed the importance of preserving the club’s current momentum having, at the time, scored an impressive 7 goals in their previous two games:

“I believe we are on a good run and we want to keep that going. It’s important to keep it moving no matter what competition it is. That’s what we want to do.

We are doing well in the Champions League and we have done well so far in the Carling Cup, and we are back on track in the championship.

We want to end our wait for a trophy. We want to respond with the maximum commitment to the demands of people. The only thing I can promise is that we will try to give our best in every competition.”

Having been so dismissive of the Carling Cup in the past (“I do not consider that if you win the Carling Cup, you will be going on a trophy parade”), this new-found clamour for silverware represents a significant sea change in Wenger’s once-withering outlook.

Samir Nasri scored two penalties against Spurs in the third round

It is widely expected that Arsenal will field players in the ilk of Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielny against Newcastle at St James’ Park tonight, which could obviously be construed as merely giving a few recently recovering first-teamers a run out in order to find their legs again, but the deployment of such big-name ‘resources’ seems to sit fairly snugly alongside Wenger’s vow to ‘go for every single competition’.

The clearest indication that Wenger’s attitude toward the Carling Cup has been transmogrified by a certain degree of desperation came not at the AGM, but in the previous round’s 4-1 victory over rivals Tottenham.

Arsenal fielded a far more formidable line-up to that which we are used to seeing at this early stage of proceedings, with players such as Laurent Koscielny, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky later being joined by Marouane Chamakh and Andrey Arshavin.

It would have been reasonable to assume that Wenger had made such a strong selection purely in a bid to ensure that the north London bragging rights headed back toward Ashburton Grove come the final whistle, but his promise to the club’s shareholders seem to imply that his desire to progress through the competition won’t be limited to just the one game.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News