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)

UEFA Champions League and Europa League Round-Up, FA Cup 6th Round + 4 EPL Match Previews:

UEFA Champions League and Europa League Last 16, Second Legs Round Up:

Champions League Last 16, Second Leg Action:

Tuesday:

 

Inter Milan 2 Marseille 1 (Aggregate 2-2, Marseille go through on away goals)
Milito 75'           Brandao 90+2'
Pazzini 90+6'

Bayern Munich 7 Basel 0 (Aggregate 7-1)
Robben 11', 81'
Muller 42'
Gomez 44', 50', 61'

Bayern Munich celebrate their 7-0 thrashing of FC Basel, to move into the Last 8 of the Champions League.

 

Wednesday:

Real Madrid 4 CSKA Moscow 1 (Aggregate 5-1)

'Higuain 26'                      'Tosic 77'

'Ronaldo 55, 90+4'  

'Benzema 70'  

Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate their 5-2 win over CSKA Moscow, putting themselves into the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.

Chelsea 3 Napoli 1 (Aggregate 4-4) (AET 5-4)

This match was played at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea hosted Napoli in a do or die matchup for The Blues if they wanted to qualify for the Last 8 of the CL (after a 3-1 loss in the first leg in Naples).

Striker Didier Drogba opened the scoring after 28 minutes, after midfielder Ramires' cross was headered past the goalkeeper into the net.

Striker Didier Drogba heads Chelsea ahead against Napoli in the 28th minute at Stamford Bridge.

Napoli conceded a silly corner in the 47th minute, in which winger Juan Mata's cross was quickly converted with a powerful header by John Terry to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead on the night, and level the aggregate score.

Defender John Terry doubles Chelsea's lead against Napoli in the 48th minute with a powerful header.

Midfielder Goklan Inler halved Chelsea's advantage with a sweet striker from 30 yards out in the 55th minute.

Frank Lampard made it 3-1 to the hosts after he scored a penalty in the 75th minute to take the match to extra time.

Every player was tired and defender Branislav Ivanovic ended the match with a clinical shot from 12 yards out.

UEFA Champions League Last 8 Draw:

APOEL vs Real Madrid

Benfica vs Chelsea

Marseille vs Bayern Munich

AC Milan vs Barcelona

First leg ties to be played on the 27th/28th of March, second legs on the 3rd/4th of April.

Europa League Action (EPL Teams mainly):

Thursday:

Athletic Bilbao 2 Manchester United 1 (Aggregate 5-3)
Manchester United had to overturn a 1 goal aggregate lead and ensure that Bilbao did not score more than once, to keep their Europa League dreams alive.
Watch highlights here:

Sorry about the foreign commentary...

Manchester City 3 Sporting Lisbon 2 (Aggregate 3-3, Sporting win on away goals)
This match was played at The Ethiad Stadium, as Manchester City hosted Sporting Lisbon in a must-win match if they wanted
to continue in the Europa League.
Sergio Aguero (2) and a Mario Balotelli penalty was not enough for City to qualify for the Last 8 of the Europa League.
Fernandez and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel both scored for the visitors in the first half.

UEFA Europa League Last 8 Draw:

(Just for the record)

AZ vs Valencia

Schalke 4 vs Athletic Bilbao

Sporting Lisbon vs Metalist Kharkiv

Athletico Madrid vs Hannover 96

First legs: 29th of March, second legs on the 5th of April.

FA Cup 6th Round Previews:

Saturday:

Everton vs Sunderland: LIVE at 12:45pm

This match will be played at Goodison Park as Everton look to move into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2009, against a tough Sunderland side who have been under-rated so far this season and beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Fifth round to get here.

Everton playmaker Steven Pienaar is cup-tied for Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final against Sunderland at Goodison Park.
Central midfielder Darron Gibson is also unlikely to return to action from a knee injury.
Manager David Moyes is expected to rotate his squad after making six changes for the midweek defeat at Liverpool - which included first starts in two months for defender Phil Jagielka and midfielder Jack Rodwell - but today reported "a couple of niggling injuries" to unnamed players.
Striker Nicklas Bendtner is expected to be fit for Sunderland.
The Denmark international left the field on a stretcher with a knee problem during the closing stages of last weekend's 1-0 Barclays Premier League win over Liverpool, but has made a rapid recovery.
However, full-back Kieran Richardson is losing his battle to recover from a calf problem in time and Wayne Bridge could continue, while suspended pair Lee Cattermole and Stephane Sessegnon and injured duo Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf) remain on the sidelines.

It could have the makings of a replay, or a heated and close match.

Most pundits would expect Everton to prevail in whichever sort of fashion as Sunderland have not beaten them IN ANY COMPETITION since the 22nd of December 2001. 

Tottenham Hotspur vs Bolton Wanderers: LIVE at 17:30pm

This match will come from White Hart Lane as an out-of-form Spurs side host a Bolton side who they will look to as an easy team to get back to winning ways in the race for the Champions League in the EPL.

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor is a doubt for tomorrow's match due to a hamstring injury.
Winger Aaron Lennon remains sidelined with a hamstring problem while Ledley King (knee) will have a fitness test today.
Defender William Gallas could make his first appearance since January after recovering from a calf problem, but defender Michael Dawson (ankle), goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes (knee), and midfielder Tom Huddlestone (ankle) are all out.

Midfielder Chris Eagles is a doubt for Bolton. He suffered a hamstring injury last weekend after coming on as substitute in the 2-1 victory over QPR.
England Under-21 striker Marvin Sordell is cup-tied due to his involvement with Watford, but Spanish defender Marcos Alonso is in contention for his first game in three months after coming through two reserves games unscathed.

Spurs will be very surprised if they do not beat Bolton, but do not underestimate The Trotters, who got to the FA Cup semi-final last season.

Sunday:

Chelsea vs Leicester City: LIVE at 14:05pm

This match will be played at Stamford Bridge as Roberto Di Matteo will be looking for his fourth win in a row as a 4-1 win against Napoli on Wednesday, but they host Championship side Leicester who will certainly be under-dogs in the race for a place in the semi-finals.

Di Matteo is confident that defenders John Terry and David Luiz will be fit to play against The Foxes on Sunday.
Blues captain Terry failed to finish Wednesday night's Champions League triumph over Napoli, while centre-back partner Luiz was limping badly afterwards with an ankle injury.
Di Matteo looks set to make changes after many players completed 120 minutes in midweek, while midfielder Raul Meireles is available after suspension.
Former Liverpool defender Paul Konchesky will return for Leicester, after serving a three-match suspension after his was sent off at the start of the month against Coventry.
Fellow defender Matt Mills, midfielder Ben Marshall and strikers Steve Howard and Jeff Schlupp are also pushing for recalls.
Midfielder Danny Drinkwater, back-up goalkeeper Conrad Logan and teenage defender Liam Moore are all cup-tied.

Liverpool vs Stoke City: LIVE at 16:00pm

The most interesting FA Cup match-up this weekend will come from Anfield as Liverpool host Stoke City in a match between two teams who have been having a rivalry lately.

Winger Craig Bellamy could return to the Liverpool squad for Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Stoke having missed the midweek Merseyside 3-0 derby victory.
Full-back Glen Johnson is still not match-fit having not played the last three matches while centre-back Daniel Agger remains sidelined with a cracked rib.
Stoke will be without suspended striker Ricardo Fuller.
The Jamaican serves the first of a three-match ban following his sending-off against Chelsea last weekend for a naughty stamp on defender Branislav Ivanovic.
Potters boss Tony Pulis has already confirmed goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen will get his chance in between the sticks after losing the number one spot to Asmir Begovic last month while striker Peter Crouch, rested against Chelsea, will also return.

4 EPL Match Previews:

This is a snippet of Round 30 of this season's EPL.

Manchester United will hope to bounce back (and move 4 points clear of rivals City) from their midweek defeat to Athletic Bilbao by beating Wolves on Sunday.

Fulham will look to extend their good form of late with a win over Swansea City, while Newcastle and Wigan will both be desperate to win to help themselves for Europe and avoiding relegation (respectively) 

Saturday:

 

Fulham vs Swansea City: LIVE at 15:00pm

This match will be played at Craven Cottage as 10th placed Fulham host 11th placed Swansea in an interesting match between two mid-table teams. 
Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell has suffered an injury setback that looks likely to rule him out for a further four weeks.
He was close to a return to first-team action but has had to have another operation on a hernia injury, putting his rehabilitation back and ruling him out of tomorrow's match against Swansea.
Midfielder Aaron Hughes returns to the squad after missing last weekend's match against Aston Villa with a calf complaint, while Zdenek Grygera is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Striker Orlando Sa is out for at least three or four weeks with a hamstring injury.
Swansea have no fresh injury concerns.
Swansea winger Nathan Dyer will be out through a red-card suspension against Stoke City.
Andrea Orlandi is back in training after a hamstring tear, while Kemy Agustien is likely to miss the rest of the season after ankle surgery.

Fulham will be gunning for the win against Swansea, but it will not necessarily be easy..
They need Clint Dempsey and Pavel Pogbrenyak on top form if they want to win tomorrow.

Wigan Athletic vs West Bromwich Albion: LIVE at 15:00pm
This match will be played at DW Stadium as bottom side Wigan host 14th placed West Brom. There are 14 points between the sides.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is waiting on the fitness of striker Hugo Rodallega and midfielder Albert Crusat ahead of tomorrow match against WBA.
Rodallega picked up a knock to his knee during last weekend's 1-1 draw against Norwich while Crusat injured a toe in training.
Goalkeeper Michael Pollitt is estimated to be 10 days away from a return after suffering a shoulder injury and midfielder David Jones is still sidelined with a knee problem.

West Brom centre-back Jonas Olsson is suspended after his sending off against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.
Defenders Craig Dawson and Gabriel Tamas will want to partner Gareth McAuley in the cenre of the defence. Right-back Billy Jones is also available again after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Striker Peter Odemwingie is unavailable (10% of playing) because of a calf problem. Shane Long, Somen Tchoyi and Simon Cox are all in contention to replace the Nigerian international.
Winger Jerome Thomas has shaken off his recent hamstring injury while midfielder Keith Andrews (knee) should be fit despite missing training during the early part of the week.

West Brom wil look to move comfortably past bottom placed Wigan, even without star player Peter Odemwingie.

Sunday:

Wolves vs Manchester United: LIVE at 13:30pm
This match will be played at Molienuex as under-fire Wolves host 1st placed Manchester United who are serious EPL title contenders, with only 9 matches left to play this season.
Manchester United will hope key striker Wayne Rooney shrugs off the knock he suffered during yesterday's Europa League defeat in Spain in time to face Wolves on Sunday. 
Paul Scholes is set to return in midfield against the home side, whilst defender Phil Jones hopes to shrug off a flu bug.
Wolves caretaker manager Terry Connor has no fresh injury problems.
Midfielder Karl Henry is the only player sidelined and he hopes to return from his hamstring injury.

FACT: Wolves have conceded 9 goals in 3 matches since captain Roger Johnson was dropped by caretaker manager Terry Connor.
Leaky, dangerous choice by Mr. Connor....

Newcastle United vs Norwich City: LIVE at 16:00pm
This match will be played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle host 12th placed Norwich.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is worried about the fitness of key duo Cheick Tiote and Danny Simpson ahead of Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Norwich.
Midfielder Tiote picked up a hamstring problem on Monday during the 2-1 defeat against Arsenal, while full-back Simpson suffered an adductor strain in the same game.
Apart from that, Newcastle have no new injury concerns, although striker Peter Lovenkrands (thigh) and fellow long-term absentees Leon Best, Sammy Ameobi (both knee), Steven Taylor (Achilles) and Sylvain Marveaux (groin) are ALL still missing.
Norwich expect to have midfielder Jonny Howson available again after an illness.
Defenders Daniel Ayala (hamstring) and Marc Tierney (groin) are still recovering to full match fitness.
Striker James Vaughan (hamstring) is another still not available for first-team selection.

Newcastle will be disappointed if they do not win on Sunday against a high-and-low Norwich side.
Having said this, The Canaries are very un-predictable and can take a result from anywhere...

Demba Ba, Jonas and Papiss Demba Cisse's partnership will be key for the hosts.
 

Thanks for reading my EPL Blog.

Pease continue to support me by following this blog and viewing frequently which you are doing very well.

This means a lot to me as it inspires me to put more work, time and effort towards this blog!

I will see all of you tomorrow.

The Weekend's EPL Results Analysis:

EPL Results:

Round 26.

Saturday's Action:

Chelsea 3 Bolton Wanderers 0
This match was played at Stamford Bridge as 5th placed Chelsea hosted 19th placed Bolton. 
Defender David Luiz opened the scoring for The Blues in the 48th minute. Striker Didier Drogba doubled the hosts lead in the 61st minute to score his first goal since going to the African Cup of Nations. Midfielder Frank Lampard capped off the match with a goal to make it a 3-0 win to Chelsea after 79 minutes.

This means that Chelsea manager Andre Villas Boas lives to fight another day in the EPL, while Bolton boss Owen Coyle is in no better position with lowly Bolton.

FACT: This is Chelsea's first win in 5 matches (against QPR in the FA Cup).

Midfielder Frank Lampard celebrates his 12th goal of the season against Bolton in the 79th minute to put Chelsea 3-0 up.

Newcastle United 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2
This match was played at The Sports Direct Arena as 6th placed Newcastle hosted 16th place Wolves.
Striker Papiss Demba Cisse scored his second goal for his new club after only 6 minutes. Midfielder Jonas Gutierrez scored a belter from 25 yards out to double the Geordies' lead in the 18th minute. Winger Matthew Jarvis halved the hosts 2-0 lead in the 50th minute and gave Wolves hope to salvage something away from home. Striker Kevin Doyle equalised in the 66th minute for Wolves and that is how the match finished. 

Newcastle will feel disappointed that they gave up a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, but grateful they did not lose and are still in 6th place. Wolves will feel happy that they cameback from 2 goals down, but unlucky not to win the match and are still in trouble, seven points off 15th placed Aston Villa - still in relegation trouble.

 

QPR 0 Fulham 1
The first London derby of this weekend was between QPR and Fulham.
Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak scored the only goal of the match for the away side after 7 minutes. QPR midfielder Samba Diakite picked up two yellow cards in the space of 14 minutes and brought QPR down to ten men - on his debut after moving to Rangers in the January TW. 

Fulham celebrate striker Pavel Pogrebnyak's early 7th minute goal to win the match against QPR at Loftus Road...

Fulham beat QPR again for the second time this season, but it was less routine than the 6-0 win in October 2011.

West Bromwich Albion 4 Sunderland 0
15th placed West Brom hosted an in-form Sunderland side in 9th place, who were only 10 points off 4th place. 
Striker Peter Odemwingie broke the deadlock for the home side after only three minutes into the match to put West Brom ahead. Midfielder James Morrison scored a header to made it 2-0 to WBA in the 41st minute. Odemwingie scored his second of the match, three minutes after the start of the second half to put The Baggies in a surprising controlled position. Midfielder Keith Andrews rubbed salt in the wounds, making ut 4-0 in the 90th minute on his debut scoring his first goal for WBA.

Wigan Athletic 0 Aston Villa 0 
This match was hosted at the DW Stadium as 20th placed Wigan hosted 14th placed Aston Villa.
This match ended in a goalless draw, with both teams staying in their same respective positions but only a point ahead from their last matches.
Villa will feel upset that they could not get the job done against a weak Wigan side stuck in 20th place, while Wigan will feel relieved that they did not lose at home, but could have moved further off the bottom of the table with a win.

Manchester City 3 Blackburn Rovers 0
1st placed Manchester City hosted 18th placed Blackburn at The Ethiad Stadium. 
Striker Mario Balotelli broke the deadlock for the home side in the first half (30th minute). Striker Sergio Aguero scored his 20th goal of the season to double the lead in the 52nd minute after capatalizing on goalkeeper Paul Robinson's fumble out towards him. Fellow striker Edin Dzeko ended the match in the 81st minute to give City a 3-0 convincing lead and keep the pressure on rivals United in 2nd place, two points behind them.

Striker Sergio Aguero scoring City's second against Blackburn on Saturday.

FACT: City are now unbeaten at home in one whole year at The Ethiad.


Today's Action:

Arsenal 5 Tottenham Hotspur 2
North London Derbies between these two teams never seem to disappoint, and today's was not stalemate either.... Striker Louis Saha put the away side in-front after only 4 minutes, before former Gunner forward Emmanuel Adebayor doubled Spurs' lead with a penalty, 30 minutes later to give Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger a real headache. Full-back Bacary Sana halved the 2-0 lead in the 40th minute, before captain and striker Robin Van Persie curled a stunning shot past Brad Friedel to equalise for the home side. Midfielder Tomas Rosicky scored his first goal at The Emirates since 2010 to make it 3-2 in the 51st minute before a Theo Walcott doubled in the space of three minutes (65th and 68th min) allowed Arsenal a 5-2 comfortable scoreline.

Striker Robin Van Persie celebrates scoring to equalise for Arsenal against Tottenham in the 43rd minute. He has now scored 29 goals this season in all competitions.

Norwich City 1 Manchester United 2

Stoke City 2 Swansea City 0

Carling Cup Final: 

Cardiff City 1 Liverpool 1 (AET 2-2) (Pens 2-3)

Well, well, well! What a match at Wembley! Everyone (except me) thought that this would be a rout in Liverpool's favour.... but it was nothing but!

Defender Martin Skrtel equalised for The Reds in the 60th minute after striker Joe Mason had put The Bluebirds ahead after only 19 minutes... The 90 minutes was over and the match went to extra time. Striker Dirk Kuyt made it 2-1 to Liverpool, three minutes after coming off the subs bench (in the second half of extra time). Everyone thought it was over, but defender Brian Turner shot through Pepe Reina's legs from a corner in the 118th minute to make the match go to penalties.
Liverpol captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard missed his penalty, along with Charlie Adam (who skied his to Row Z). 5 penalties scored later, Steven Gerrard's cousin Antony stepped up to take it, but his shot narrowly missed the left post and Liverpool prevailed!

Liverpool's jubilant celebration after beating Cardiff on penalties to win their first trophy in 6 years.

Is this a sign of things to come for King Kenny's men?
Is this the start of a new Liverpool generation??

FA Cup 5th Round Fixtures and Previews:

FA Cup 5th Round Previews:

Tomorrow:

15:00pm (unless stated) 

Chelsea vs Birmingham City: LIVE at 12:30pm

Defender John Terry looks unlikely to be risked for the match against Birmingham, despite recovering from the knee injury that has sidelined him for three weeks.
Ashley Cole (calf) is unable to play tomorrow.
Strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou will only be available in the midweek tie against Napoli after returning from African Cup of Nations duty, but midfielder Ramires could return from a knee injury against Birmingham.

Birmingham will be without front-line strikers Nikola Zigic (knee) and Marlon King (groin).
Adam Rooney is set to bolster the attack as npower Championship play-off contenders City look to secure a quarter-final spot for the third successive season via a major upset.

Chelsea will hope to move swiftly from their current (let's just say) 'interesting' form of late with a comfortable win against Championship opposition. It may not be routine against the power of Adam Rooney and co though who have secured a quarter-final place in the FA Cup for the past two years.

Everton vs Blackpool:

Everton will be without midfielder Steven Pienaar for Saturday's FA Cup fifth-round tie at Goodison Park because the winger, on loan from Tottenham, is cup-tied.
Midfielder Landon Donovan is available for the last time before he returns to the Los Angeles Galaxy, but illness could rule him out. Striker Nikica Jelavic misses out due to pubalgia (which is a groin problem)
Young playmaker Seamus Coleman could feature for The Toffees having overcome a thigh problem, but defender Shane Duffy has an ankle complaint and joins an injury list that also includes Jack Rodwell (hamstring), Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka (both knee)
Everton will be expecting to win against a lower side. To say the least...!

Millwall vs Bolton Wanderers:

Bolton forward Kevin Davies has been ruled out of the 5th round tie at Millwall due to a knee injury.

Owen Coyle has revealed that he sustained medial ligament damage in the 2-1 loss to Wigan last week. Defender Tyrone Mears is facing more time on the sidelines after suffering a setback in his recovery from a broken leg.
New striker Marvin Sordell is cup-tied, but defender Joe Riley may feature having regained his fitness after a groin problem and there could be first Bolton starts for two January signings in centre-back Tim Ream, who would make his debut and on-loan winger Ryo Miyaichi.
Bolton's new strengthed side should have enough to see off Millwall, and a place in the Quarter-finals would boost the board of directors' faith in under-fire manager Owen Coyle. 

Norwich City vs Leicester City: 

Norwich will have striker James Vaughan in the squad to face Leicester in Saturday's FA Cup tie after five months on the sidelines with a knee injury.

The Canaries are still without Daniel Ayala (hamstring) and Zak Whitbread (hamstring).
Norwich will be praying that their current form in the EPL, may continue in the FA Cup tomorrow.

Sunderland vs Arsenal: LIVE at 17:30pm

Arsenal are without centre-backs Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny for tomorrow's FA Cup fifth-round tie away at Sunderland.
Mertesacker (ankle) is out for the long term, according to manager Arsene Wenger, while Koscielny (knee) should be missing for only one week.
Gervinho returns from African Nations Cup duty, but defenders Carl Jenkinson (back) and Andre Santos (ankle) are still out, along with midfielders Abou Diaby (hamstring) and Jack Wilshere (ankle). Thierry Henry has completed his loan spell from New York Red Bulls and is back in America much to Arsenal supporters discontent (as they feel the spell was too sort for the legend).
Midfielder Lee Cattermole could be back in the Sunderland squad after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Striker Nicklas Bendtner is on loan from The Gunners so he is ineligible for the fifth-round clash at the Stadium of Light.
David Vaughan (ankle) is still out as are Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles).


Sunderland gave Arsenal a run for their money in the EPL last week, with an unlucky 2-1 loss thanks to Aaron Ramsey and Thierry Henry's late goals. They want revenge against an Arsenal side who have lost morale after their humilating 4-0 loss on Wednesday against AC Milan.

Sunday:

Crawley Town vs Stoke City: LIVE at 12:00pm

Stoke boss Tony Pulis will rotate his squad after the 1-0 defeat to Valencia yesterday in Spain for the trip to Crawley on Sunday.
Defender Matthew Upson could be involved after serving a European ban, while fellow centre-back Robert Huth will sit out the second of his three-match domestic suspension, but goalkeeper Asmir Begovic is likely to keep his place. Stoke have to monitior the fitness of midfielder Dean Whitehead after he sustained a nasty gash to his leg yesterday against Valencia in a clash. 

Stevenage vs Tottenham Hotspur: LIVE at 14:00pm

Rafael van der Vaart has failed to overcome a calf injury and will miss the match against Stevenage on Sunday.

Defender Younes Kaboul is struggling with a knee injury and captain Ledley King is likely to be rested, meaning Ryan Nelsen should start his first game for his new club.
Forward Louis Saha did not play for Everton in the FA Cup earlier this season and he is therefore available this weekend, but long-term absentees William Gallas (calf) and Tom Huddlestone (ankle) are out.
Spurs are in-form this season and could even win the EPL for the first time since, since.... err... 1950.
If they lose to Stevenage, they will be livid as they will want every trophy possible this season....

Liverpool vs Brighton and Hove Albion: LIVE at 16:30pm

Maxi Rodriguez could make his return to the Liverpool team in this weekend's FA Cup fifth-round clash with Brighton at Anfield.
Midfielder Rodriguez has not featured since the end of January due to a foot problem, in the 2-1 win against United in the 4th round.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has indicated that young defenders Jon Flanagan and Jack Robinson may come into his thinking for the tie.

The Reds will expect to win comfortably after beating rivals Manchester United in the 4th Round, but Brighton will be hoping to keep Liverpool busy throughout the match and hopefully pull off an upset (which they nearly did in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup)

My Predictions:


Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Stoke, Everton, Bolton, Norwich all prevail - making an all EPL Last 8 quarter-final line-up.