Thursday Night UEFA Europa League Action - LIVE Coverage plus EPL News:

Hello and welcome to my LIVE Coverage, in the UEFA Europa League as Liverpool face Hearts and Newcastle face Atromitos.

Plus, all the LATEST EPL Transfer and news, with 8 days left in the summer transfer window.

Next Friday:
I will do a LIVE special on transfer deadline day next Friday along with Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

But before I start the LIVE Commentary, here is the LATEST from the EPL:

Yesterday's EPL Evening Match:

Chelsea 4 Reading 2

This match was scheduled to take place yesterday at Stamford Bridge, because of the UEFA Super Cup match for Chelsea next Friday, a day before the match was originally supposed to take place.

Anyways, enough of the technical stuff....

On to the actual match itself:

Chelsea pressed early on with winger Ramires having a shot saved by Adam Federici.

Winger Eden Hazard skilled past two defenders before being brought down inside the box for a Chelsea penalty (by the way he played very well). 

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard scored from the penalty spot in the 18th minute with a hard and low shot past goalkeeper Adam Federici.

Unstoppable: Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard scores from the penalty spot to give Chelsea the lead.

Reading passed the ball well, before a cross came into the box for striker Pavel Pogrebnyak who heading the ball towards goal, high into the top corner, and out of Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech's reach to equalise after 25 minutes.

High header: Reading striker Pavel Pogrebnyak heads the ball past 'keeper Petr Cech to equalise for his new club.

What a header by Pogrebnyak high and a great equaliser.

New Reading signing Danny Guthrie had a free-kick from 20 yards out taken and it swerved powerfully towards goal. 

Petr Cech parried the ball away from himself but the ball span away from him and trickled into the net to give Reading the lead in the 29th minute. 

Out of control: Petr Cech parries the ball away from himself, but the ball is too powerful and spins into the net.

1st goal for a new club: Danny Guthrie scored his first goal for Reading against Chelsea after leaving Newcastle.

Chelsea tried to press for an equalliser with Hazard and Torres looking promising with good link-up play.

Hazard had a shot from 25 yards out over the bar, while a nice cross into the box by Hazard found Torres but his header was just wide of the goalmouth.

At half-time it was 2-1 to Reading.

In the second half, Reading were defending well as Chelsea continued to look for the all important goal.

Hazard and Torres continued to find each other with good passes before Torres passed to defender Branislav Ivanovic who had a shot from 18 yards out over the bar.

Hazard skilled a defender before passing a through bal straight to substitute and £25million man Oscar who had a shot saved by Adam Federici.

In the 69th minute, Hazard passed the ball towards defender Gary Cahill before he unleashed a long distance shot towards goal. Federici missed the ball completely and Cahilll had equalised for Chelsea with 20 minutes to go.

Long-range effort: Defender Gary Cahill equalised for the home side against Reading in the 69th minute.

Back on level terms: Cahil celebrates his goal against Reading to make it 2-2.

In the 81st minute, a new Chelsea pass and move was finished with a through ball past the box by left-back Ashley Cole to striker Fernando Torres who tapped the ball into the net easily.

Controversially, replays show that Torres was offside when he scored, so Reading will have felt hard done by.

In the 90+5th minute, Reading had a corner with goalkeeper Adam Federici coming out of his goal to run up for the corner. 
Chelsea defended well, and counter attacked with Torres, Hazard and Ivanovic running away from the goalkeeper with an open goal awaiting the ball in the net....

Hazard was unselfish by passing thae ball to Ivanovic who slotted the ball into the net to make it 4-2 to Chelsea.

This was how the match ended and despite the scoreline, Reading were robbed and played well throughout.
If only the decisions went the right way.

My Man Of The Match: 
Eden Hazard

He passed the ball well, crossed the ball to his team-mates. 
He assisted Ivanvic and won another penalty by showing his pace and skill.

Looks very promising and £32million looks like a steal now for him.

EPL Transfers and News:

Wigan have confirmed that they have accepted a fee from Chelsea for forward Victor Moses. The fee is expected to be around £9million.

Chelsea bound: Wigan's young forward Victor Moses (left) may join Chelsea soon, after a fee has been agreed.

They have given Moses permission to speak to the club and he is expected to talk to them on Friday or Saturday. 

Wolves have accepted an £10.75million offer from West Ham for winger Matthew Jarvis.

He is having a medical at West Ham ahead of a move to the London club.

Celtic have accepted a £6million fee for midfielder Ki-Sueng Yueng from Swansea, and he is going to have his medical tomorrow.

Medical: Celtic midfielder Ki Sung Yeung will become Swansea's £6million record signing at the weekend.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Michael Dawson’s £9million transfer to QPR was in danger of collapsing yesterday night, after news broke that he had failed to agree personal terms.

Sunderland have opened talks with Manchester City winger Adam Johnson over a £10million move. 

Aston Villa defender Richard Dunne is set to leave Villa for Stoke City. The transfer has been held up as he recovers from groin surgery. 

Fulham and Tottenham are both interested in Roma goalkeeper and Holland international Maarten Stekelenberg. He is available for around £6million.

  

According to Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, striker Sergio Aguero is expected to miss around one month with the knee injury that he picked up against Southampton on Sunday, and could be back in action by September the 15th.

Not as bad as first thought: Aguero will be out for a month with a knee injury but it could be worse.

Tottenham are reportedly ready to let winger Rafael Van Der Vaart leave the club for £9.5million to move back to Germany, to Hamburg. 

Arsenal are interested in Sevilla winger Jesus Navas and may be ready to launch a bid for the £20million rated player.

Sunderland and West Ham are both very interested in West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie and are ready to battle for his services.

Wanted: West Ham and Sunderland are interested in Peter Odemwingie. He has scored 27 goals in 63 matches.

UEFA Europa League 3rd Round Play-Off LIVE Coverage: 

21:35:

FULL-TIME SCORES:

Atromitos 1 Newcastle United 1

The early match in Greece saw last season's 5th placed Newcastle face a side - that to be honest no one has really heard of, apart from the fact that they are a Greek club. 

A nice through ball cross by the home side found Denis Epstein who found space on the wing before speeding past defender James Tavernier before cheekily tapping the ball away from goalkeeper Steve Harper to score in the 23rd minute. 

Deadlock broken in Greece: Epstein celebrates the opening goal in the 23rd minute with his team-mates.

Newcastle had a free-kick from 25 yards out, just on the stroke of half-time (45+1) taken by full-back Ryan Taylor towards goal which was powerful, curled and swerved past the goalkeeper into the net.

Curling free-kick effort: Newcastle full-back Ryan Taylor scores an equaliser in the 45th minute.

Crucial away goal: Newcastle celebrate Ryan Taylor's goal against Atromitos just before half-time.

We needed that: Ryan Taylor shakes hands with his manager Alan Pardew.

Newcastle had equalised, but they could not find the winner in Greece. Despite this, they have the all important crucial away goal with the second leg still to play in Newcastle next Thursday.

Hearts 0 Liverpool 1

The late evening Europa League fixture was played in Edinburgh as Liverpool's fringe squad went to Scotland to play the first leg of the play-off round.

(MORE TO FOLLOW SOON)

Saturday EPL Special LIVE:

Saturday EPL Special LIVE:

Welcome to my Saturday EPL Special LIVE, with 7 matches including Sunderland vs Tottenham and Liverpool vs Aston Villa.

Yesterday:

Newcastle United 2 Swansea City 0

This match was played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle hosted 11th placed Swansea. 
Papiss Cisse broke the deadlock for the home side in the 5th minute to make it 1-0.

Perfect start: Cisse breaks the deadlock in the 5th minute for Newcastle against Swansea.

The match was tense after this, and although Swansea pressed well for the equaliser, Cisse scored again in the 70th minute with a delightful chip from 16 yards out over Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm's head but just underneath the crossbar.

Papiss Cisse scores a beautifully placed chip to make it 2-0 against Swansea in the 70th minute.

Newcastle are now 2 points ahead of 6th placed Chelsea, and move into their spot, while Swansea stay in 11th place.


Papiss Cisse has now scored 9 goals in his first 9 matches.



Sunderland 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0: LIVE 
The early kick-off in the Premier League today, sees 9th placed Sunderland host 4th placed Tottenham at The Stadium of Light.
Tottenham only need a draw to leapfrog rivals Arsenal into 3rd place, but it will not be on easy street against a Sunderland side who has beaten Manchester City and Arsenal here.
60 minutes gone, and it is still goalless. 


Team Line-ups:


Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, Kilgallon, Colback, Larsson, Gardner, Cattermole, McClean, Sessegnon, Bendtner.  
Subs: Westwood, Bridge, Richardson, Vaughan, Ji, Meyler, Kyrgiakos.


Sebastien Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner both start for Sunderland against their former North London rivals Tottenham (as they both used to play for Arsenal, Bendtner still does)


Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Van der Vaart, Sandro, Parker, Modric, Bale, Adebayor.  
Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Saha, Defoe, Kranjcar, Livermore, Nelsen.

A strong Tottenham side, with VDV, Modric, Bale and Adebayor in the striking mind.
Two defensive minded players in Sandro and Scott Parker. Formation would probably be: 4-2-2-2. 
A strong bench also with Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe and Louis Saha all ready for action.

63: Sunderland pressing for the first goal here, good play by midfielder Stephane Sessegnon who is giving the Spurs defence problems.

64: Tottenham are looking to make a substitution. The first of the match.

Aaron Lennon ON
Sandro OFF

An attacking option for Spurs then. Van Der Vaart and Lennon on the wings.
Sandro already being recently booked. 


68:
2nd half possession:
Sunderland 31%, Tottenham 69%

69: Cameras on Harry Redknapp. One word: Frustration.

70: Lovely through ball by Lee Catermole to Phil Bardsley who takes a powerful cross the ball into the box for Josh McClean, who cannot keep the ball on the pitch. 
Goal-kick.

71: Midfielder Lee Catermole has gone down injured, now recieving treatment on the sidelines.

72: Quick ball towards Van Der Vaart by Aaron Lennon into space, he takes a shot towards goal.... Deflected by a Sunderland defender (near the hand) before being cleared out.


75: Sunderland subsutition:
David Vaughan ON
Lee Catermole OFF
Catermole's hamstring injury was too much to play the rest of the match. Unlucky, as he was important to Sunderland going forward and has been important to Sunderland going forward and at the back. 


77: Tottenham substitution:
Emmanuel Adebayor OFF
Louis Saha ON

81: Tottenham substitution:
Jermain Defoe ON
Rafael Van Der Vaart OFF

FACT: Defoe has scored 19 goals as a substitute. This is the all-time Premier League record.  
 

Sunderland substitution:
Kieran Richardson ON
Phil Bardsley OFF

I have team line-ups from all the 3oclock kick-offs.
I will give the line-ups after this match.


83: Goal-kick taken by goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

84: Foul by Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker on Sunderland midfielder James McClean. Free-kick taken by Sebastien Larsson into open play.

85: Sunderland corner taken by Sebastien Larsson, but nothing comes of it.

88: Sebastien Larsson has been booked for 'unsporting behaviour'.  


89: Foul by Tottenham full-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto on Sunderland midfielder Stephane Sessegnon. Yellow card given to Ekotto.


90: Foul by Sunderland midfielder David Vaughan on Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon. Yellow card given.


90+3: The referee blows the whistle for full-time here at The Stadium of Light.

FACT: This is the first time in 22 meetings that Sunderland and Tottenham have had a goalless draw.


Tottenham move into 3rd place, into at least tomorrow, when rivals Arsenal face Manchester City.

Spurs will feel disappointed that they could not get the win, as they had at least 15 shots and could not score at least one shot on target.
They had a lot of quality, but could not get the job done.


Sunderland will feel happy that they keep Spurs under control and took a point, but will be thinking whether they could have taken all three.

15:00 EPL Line-ups: 

Norwich v Everton:

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Ryan Bennett, Ward, Drury, Elliott Bennett, Fox, Howson, Surman, Hoolahan, Holt. 
Subs: Steer, Johnson, Morison, Crofts, Jackson, Wilbraham, Naughton.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Neville, Gibson, Pienaar, Gueye, Jelavic, Cahill. 
Subs: Mucha, Heitinga, Stracqualursi, McFadden, Coleman, Fellaini, Anichebe.


Liverpool v Aston Villa:

Liverpool: Doni, Flanagan, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Gerrard, Shelvey, Downing, Suarez, Kuyt.
Subs: Jones, Agger, Carroll, Maxi, Coates, Spearing, Bellamy.

Doni starts his first match for Liverpool as 1st team goalkeeper Pepe Reina is suspended after his headbutt against Newcastle last weekend.
Defender Daniel Agger is on the bench, along with forward Craig Bellamy and under-performer Andy Carroll. 
Maxi Rodriguez and Jay Spearing are also both on the bench to give Kenny Daglish help if needed.


Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Collins, Baker, Warnock, Lichaj, Ireland, Herd, Bannan, Heskey, Agbonlahor. 
Subs: Guzan, Weimann, Stevens, Johnson, Williams, Gardner, Carruthers.

A decent Villa side, with Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey in strike.
Barry Bannan and Steven Ireland are both in the centre of midfield.

Chelsea vs Wigan Athletic:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Bertrand, Meireles, Essien, Sturridge, Mata, Malouda, Drogba. 
Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Torres, Mikel, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Kalou.

Only 4 players stay in the starting 11 from the 2-1 win against Benfica on Wednesday night, with Sturridge, Meireles, Cech and David Luiz.
Full-back Ryan Bertrand is given his full EPL debut for Chelsea.


Wigan: Al Habsi, Alcaraz, Caldwell, Figueroa, Boyce, McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour, Moses, Di Santo, Maloney. 
Subs: Kirkland, Crusat, Ben Watson, Gomez, Sammon, Diame, Stam.

Two words: Victor Moses


Bolton v Fulham:

Bolton: Bogdan, Ricketts, Wheater, Ream, Alonso, Mark Davies, Reo-Coker, Pratley, Miyaichi, Ngog, Petrov. 
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Eagles, Knight, Kevin Davies, Klasnic, Sordell.

Midfielder Marcos Alonso starts after his first EPL goal last weekend. Ryo Miyaichi and Martin Petrov along with David Ngog are in strike.



Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, John Arne Riise, Duff, 
Dembele, Diarra, Kacaniklic, Ruiz, Dempsey. 
Subs: Stockdale, Baird, Senderos, Etuhu, Frei, Davies, Trotta.

Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak is not playing for Fulham. Bryan Ruiz and Clint Dempsey both start along with Diarra and Dembele.
Alex Kacaniklic starts.

West Brom v Blackburn:

West Brom: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Andrews, Odemwingie, Fortune, Brunt. 
Subs: Daniels, Tchoyi, Long, Shorey, Dawson, Cox, Scharner. 

Blackburn: Robinson, Orr, Dann, Grant Hanley, Martin Olsson, Lowe, Nzonzi, Dunn, Pedersen, Hoilett, Yakubu.
Subs: Kean, Givet, Modeste, Formica, Petrovic, Marcus Olsson, Goodwillie.


Steve Kean only makes one change from the 2-0 loss against Manchester United on Monday. 
David Dunn comes in for Marcus Olsson, who is on the subs bench along with David Goodwille.


15:00: The 3oclock kick-offs has started.


15:07:
The Hawthorns,
West Brom vs Blackburn Rovers:
Defender Gareth McAuley breaks the deadlock in the 7th minute for the home side. 1-0 to WBA. 
If results go their way, West Brom can move up to 11th place.

WBA Defender Gareth McAuley heads the ball twoards goal, to score the opening goal against Blackburn in the 7th minute.

15:10:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Oh dear.., Defender Chris Herd has put the away side off the the perfect side against 8th placed Liverpool.

FACT: If Liverpool lose today, then they will have lost their MOST EVER defeats in a League season. (12) 

15:22:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
The deadlock has been broken here!
Striker Nikica Jelavic with the goal for the visitors in the 22nd minute. 1-0.
What a signing he is proving to be for The Toffees.

Super signing: Nikica Jelavic celebrates opening the scoring for Everton, against Norwich in the 22nd minute.

15:22:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
On-loan striker Ryo Miyaichi takes a shot... but it is over the bar!
Unlucky by the youngster.

15:23:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
Midfielder Michael Essien has been booked. First yellow card of the 3oclock kick-offs, and he has to be careful now... 

15:26:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
In-form midfielder Clint Dempsey thinks he has put the away side in-front with a goal, but it is disallowed for offside. 


15:30:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
Clint Demspey scores again, from a powerful free-kick - but this time it is not offside.
1-0 to Fulham.

,

20th of the season: In-form midfielder Clint Dempsey breaks the deadlock against Bolton in the 30th minute from a free-kick.

15:39:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
Midfielder Jonny Howson equalises for the home side in the 39th minute to make it 1-1.


15:45:
The Reebok,
Bolton vs Fulham:
Midfielder Clint Dempsey scores his second goal of the match in the 45th minute to double the away side's lead. 2-0 now just before half-time.
That will change Martin Jol's team-talk.


15:50:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Striker Dirk Kuyt has just missed a great chance for an equaliser at Anfield!
He was in-front of goal from 2 yards out, but somehow missed a tap-in shot.
No wonder the newspapers are saying Kuyt may leave Liverpool for as low as £1million....

15:51:
HALF-TIMES:

Liverpool 0 Aston Villa 1
Chelsea 0 Wigan 0
Norwich 1 Everton 1
West Brom 1 Blackburn 0
Bolton 0 Fulham 2

16:04:
The second halves have all started in the EPL.


16:18:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
Nikica Jelavic takes a shot and scores in the 61st minute!!
Norwich did not play to the whistle, as they were expecting a drop ball from Pienaar's actions (after getting the ball stuck to his feet).

4 in 4: Striker Nikica Jelavic celebrates scoring for Everton. He has now scored 4 goals in 4 matches.

16:21:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
The deadlock is broken here! Controversy surrounds it as Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic's goal should have been offside as he was yards off.

Controversy: Chelsea defender Ivanovic's goal against Wigan was offside, and should have been ruled out.

16:24:
At Anfield, Stewart Downing and Jonjo Shelvey both replace Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll.


16:30:
The Hawthorns,
West Brom vs Blackburn:
Striker Marc Antoine-Fortune scores in the 69th minute for WBA, to make it 2-0 to the hosts!


16:33:
Carrow Road,
Norwich vs Everton:
GOAL!!!! Norwich have equalised here!
Midfielder Aaron Wilbraham takes a shot which is saved, but he eventually goes on to lay-off top striker Grant Holt who puts the ball in the back of the net.


16:36:
At Anfield, Daniel Agger has replaced Jose Enrique with 13 minutes to go. Still 1-0 to Aston Villa.


16:39:
The Reebok Stadium,
Bolton vs Fulham:
GOAL!
Midfielder Mahamadou Diarra ends Bolton's hopes of getting back into the match with a goal from the edge of the box, after a nice run. 3-0 with 10 minutes to go.

FACT: This is Diarra's first goal for his new club Fulham.


16:40:
Stamford Bridge,
Chelsea vs Wigan:
Midfielder Mohammed Diame takes advantage of Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand giving him space, to take a shot. It goes past Cech into the net for an equaliser in the 82nd minute....


16:41:
Anfield,
Liverpool vs Aston Villa:
Defender Daniel Agger heads the ball towards goal, but it hits the bar before striker Luis Suarez taps the ball into the net from close range as goalkeeper Shay Given is down on the floor. 1-1! Suarez with the equaliser!

8th goal of the season: Luis Suarez heads from close range to equalise for Liverpool against Aston Villa in the 83rd minute.

MORE TO FOLLOW SOON!


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I will speak to you tomorrow, in my next post where:

Manchester United vs QPR
Arsenal vs Manchester City