UEFA Europa League Coverage, EPL News plus UEFA Champions League and Capital One Cup Draws:

Hello and welcome to my latest EPL update, with a twist.

UEFA Europa League Coverage along with UEFA Champions League and Capital One Cup Draws also in this latest blog post:

Let me begin:

Tonight's UEFA Europa League Play-Off Round Action:

Newcastle United 1 Atromitos 0 (Aggregate 2-1)

Striker Haris Vuckic scored the only goal of the match for Newcastle in the 29th minute to secure European football for Newcastle this season. 

That's the one: Striker Haris Vuckic celebrates his first half winner against Atromitos at The Sports Direct Arena.

He hit a shot from outside the area near the wing, which swerved past the goalkeeper into the net.

Striker Demba Ba apparently hit the ball on the way in with his stud, but replays showed that there was no contact.

Newcastle got a stroke of fortune just before half-time after goalkeeper Tim Krul caught a striker with his arm inside the box, but the referee thought he was diving and gave him a yellow card.

Liverpool 1 Hearts 1 (Aggregate 2-1)

UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw:

(EPL Teams in LARGE)

Group A:
Porto
Dynamo Kiev
PSG 
Dinamo Zagreb

Group B:
Arsenal
Schalke
Olympiakos
Montpellier

Group C:
AC Milan
Zenit St. Petersburg
Anderlecht
Malaga

Group D:
Real Madrid
Manchester City
Borussia Dortmund
Ajax

Group E:
Chelsea
Juventus
Shakthar Donetsk
Nordsjaelland

Group F:
Bayern Munich
Valencia
Lille
BATE Borisov

Group G:
Barcelona
Celtic
Spartak Moscow
Benfica

Group H:
Manchester United
FC Cluj
Braga
Galatasaray

Very interesting CL groups, with Chelsea and Manchester United both having fairly easy groups (apart from Juventus and Braga) and should qualify for the Last 16, but you never know.

Arsenal should comfortably get into the Last 16, despite having the French champions Montpellier and Schalke in their group, which will be tough matches.

However, Manchester City will have trouble with Spainish champions Real Madrid, Dutch champions Ajax and tough German side Borussia Dortmund in their group.

They may be able to sneak a 2nd place, but they could get Europa League again like last season. 

Capital One Cup 3rd Round Draw:

(Ties involving EPL teams only) 

Manchester United vs Newcastle United

Manchester City vs Aston Villa 

MK Dons vs Sunderland

Arsenal vs Coventry

Crawley Town vs Swansea

West Brom vs Liverpool

QPR vs Reading

Chelsea vs Wolves

West Ham vs Wigan

Carlisle vs Tottenham 

Norwich vs Doncaster 

Southampton vs Sheffield Wednesday

Leeds vs Everton

Yesterday's Capital One Cup Match:

Everton 5 Leyton Orient 0 

New signing and £6million striker Kevin Mirallas scored twice, and set up two other goals for Everton, as they thrashed Leyton Orient and sped into the 3rd Round of the Capital One Cup.

Good buy: New Everton signing Kevin Mirallas scored twice against Leyton Orient yesterday.

I'm just starting: Kevin Mirallas celebrates his first goal on his debut in the Capital One Cup.

Back in business: Nigerian striker Victor Anichebe scores in the 35th minute against Leyton Orient.

 

EPL Transfers and News:

England manager Roy Hodgson has officially announced his squad for the upcoming World Cup 2014 Qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

Goalkeepers:
Jack Butland (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Man City) , John Ruddy (Norwich).

Defenders:
Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka (both Everton), Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole and John Terry (all Chelsea), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Tottenham), Joleon Lescott (Man City)

Midfielders:
Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley (Man United), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Man City) and Adam Johnson (Sunderland).

Strikers:
Andy Carroll (West Ham*), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Danny Welbeck (Man United)


* means on loan, from Liverpool

West Ham have confirmed the season-long loan signing of Liverpool striker Andy Carroll, with a permanent deal available in the summer, if they stay in the EPL.

Shock loan deal: Liverpool striker Andy Carroll has signed for West Ham on a loan spell for the rest of the season.

QPR have confimed the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero for around £9million.
He only needs to complete his medical.

If they get relegated now, after all of the money spent on players... LOOOL


Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong has reportedly flown into Italy for talks with AC Milan over a permanent transfer deal.

Going to Milan: Manchester City defensive midfielder Nigel De Jong could be on his way out to AC Milan shortly.

In other news, new Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has already won his first trophy at the club, three days after signing for the Spainish champions.

Champions: Real Madrid (Modric second right) celebrate beating Barcelona in the Spainish Super Cup last night.

Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Spainish Super Cup yesterday (4-4 win on away goals) and Luka Modric came off the bench and played at The Bernabeu Stadium.

North-London Rivalry: Former Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric tussles with former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song for the ball.

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Bayer Leverkusen's 18-year-old forward Samed Yesil in a deal worth £1million pounds.

Welcome to Liverpool: Germany winger Samed Yesli has already represented his country at U-16, U-17 and U-18 level.

Stoke City have made a £4million bid for Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam.

Wigan and Reading are both very interested in signing Marseille striker Jordan Ayew and are both ready to launch £4million bids before the deadline tomorrow night.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that winger Theo Walcott WILL remain an Arsenal player beyond Friday's transfer deadline day and may sign a new contract deal with the club.


Fulham manager Martin Jol has confirmed the news that Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is undergoing a medical at Fulham and should sign tomorrow on TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY.


Join me tomorrow for LIVE Commentary of Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup and Transfer Deadline Day throughout Friday..

EPL Easter Monday Special LIVE:

EPL Easter Monday Special LIVE:

Happy Easter Monday to you all!

Yesterday, Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta unofficially ended City's title hopes with a bullet strike winner for Arsenal in the 87th minute.

Striker Wayne Rooney and 'Golden Oldie' Paul Scholes were both on the scoresheet for the defending champions as they beat ten-man QPR earlier in the day.

Today, we have 5 different matches for you including Everton vs Sunderland and the North-London derby between Fulham vs Chelsea, with 3 different time-frames.
I could do the day in parts, but it will be confusing so I will do a BIG blog post instead.






15:00 kick-offs:


Everton vs Sunderland:
Team line-ups:

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Neville, Gueye, Fellaini, Osman, Pienaar, McFadden, Stracqualursi. 

Subs: Mucha, Gibson, Drenthe, Distin, Coleman, Anichebe, Duffy.

Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, Kilgallon, Colback, Larsson, Vaughan, Cattermole, McClean, Gardner, Sessegnon. 

Subs: Westwood, Bridge, Wickham, Richardson, Ji, Meyler, Kyrgiakos.

FACT: Everton manager David Moyes has never lost to Sunderland in his managing career.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Norwich City:

Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Livermore, Modric, Bale, Saha, Defoe.

Subs: Cudicini, Adebayor, Van der Vaart, Kranjcar, Rose, Sandro, Nelsen.

Emmanuel Adebayor is replaced by Jermain Defoe who starts in strike along with Louis Saha.

VDV also on the bench with Niko Kranxjar and Sandro.

Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Ryan Bennett, Ward, Drury, Elliott Bennett, Howson, Johnson, Pilkington, Holt, Wilbraham.

Subs: Steer, Morison, Crofts, Jackson,Surman, Hoolahan,
Barnett.

Newcastle United vs Bolton:

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Cisse.

Subs: Elliot, Abeid, Gosling, Ryan Taylor, Shola Ameobi, Ferguson, Tavernier.

Deadly partnership duo Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse both start for NUFC. 

Bolton: Bogdan, Ricketts, Ream, Wheater, Steinsson, Mark Davies, Reo-Coker, Pratley, Kevin Davies, Petrov, Eagles. 

Subs:Jaaskelainen, Alonso, Knight, Klasnic, Ngog, Sordell, Miyaichi.

Marcos Alonso, Ivan Klasnic, Marvin Sordell and Ryo Miyiachi all on the bench for Bolton.

15:00: The 3 matches have all started.


15:04: Striker Louis Saha's shot for Tottenham (against) Norwich is well saved by John Ruddy.


15:08: Standout performer for Everton so far is midfielder Steven Pienaar, who is being creative but no-one can take any shots at the moment.


15:13: 
White Hart Lane,
Tottenham vs Norwich:
And the first goal of the day, has come at White Hart Lane... to the away side.
Midfielder Anthony Pilkington with the goal in the 13th minute.

Shock start: Anthony Pilkington celebrates his opener for Norwich against Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Yes!!!! Good result so far for 'the biggest Arsenal fan', me.  :)
Trouble for Harry Redknapp... :) 


15:18:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
Midfielder and captain Lee Catermole is getting stuck in with his tackles.
Has recieved a yellow card, and now has to be careful.


15:32:
White Hart Lane,
Tottenham vs Norwich:
The home side has equalised! It was surely only a matter of time, and guess who scores it!
Super sub Jermain Defoe who started today... Nice through ball to him from Assou-Ekotto, before he chipped Ruddy nicely to score his 5th goal in 6 appearances.


15:35:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
Everton passing well..., Heitinga with a chip to Fellani who volleys the ball from 14 yards out, but does not catch it well, and the ball goes wide. Still goal-less in this FA Cup quarter-final revenge match.


15:37:
FACT: Norwich are the first club this season in the EPL to have 10 English players in their starting 11 line-up.


15:45:
One minute of stoppage time at Goodison Park.


Tottenham vs Norwich:


Tottenham substitution:
Ryan Nelsen ON
Younes Kaboul (injury) OFF 


15:48:
HALF-TIMES:


Tottenham 1 Norwich City 1
Defoe equalised for Tottenham controversially as a potential penalty was NOT given at the other end a minute earlier after a shock start, 1-1 at half-time.
Consistency..


Newcastle 0 Bolton 0
Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba all have not been able to influence the scoreline in Newcastle's favour at the moment.


Everton 0 Sunderland 0
Goalless at the break, but plenty of chances that Everton should have put away.
Sunderland came close with midfielder Stephane Sessegnon's overhead kick was just wide.


16:03: The second halves have all started in the 3oclock kick-offs.


16:12:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
Finally! Everton have taken one of their chances!
Striker Magaye Gueye scores his first goal for The Toffees after he hit a shot from a rebound.


16:26:
White Hart Lane,
Tottenham vs Norwich City:
GOAL
Midfielder Elliot Bennett takes advantage of the Tottenham defence's decision not to close him down, by taking an ambitious shot from 25 yards out towards goal., before beating Brad Friedel and scoring for Norwich!

Midfielder Elliot Bennett fires Norwich ahead at White Hart Lane against Tottenham in the 66th minute.

16:33:
Sports Direct Arena,
Newcastle United vs Bolton:
The first goal from this stadium to goes to the home side!
After 73 minutes, in-form midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa breaks the deadlock!
Wonderful solo goal, and Newcastle are close to 3 points today.
1-0 to Newcastle.


16:35:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
He has been troubling all game, and finally midfielder Steven Pienaar gets his goal!
Doubles Everton's lead with 15 minutes left, and Sunderland have not scored for 75 minutes, so 2 goals could be a big ask...
16:36:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
Another goal! 2 goals in 2 minutes for Everton, with midfielder Leon Osman's curling shot beating Simon Mignolet from the restart.

16:41:
Goodison Park,
Everton vs Sunderland:
No mercy!
Striker Victor Anichebe completes the domination, in the 81st minute with a goal for the Nigerian International.

16:43:
Sports Direct Arena,
Newcastle vs Bolton:
It was 1-0 to Newcastle, now it is 2!
Guess who scored it....
In-form striker Mr. Cisse, with his 10th goal in 9 matches after 83 minutes, which surely seals the 3 points for Newcastle now from a easy tap-in from 6 yards out.

16:52:
FULL-TIMES:
Newcastle 2 Bolton 0
In-form players Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa with the goals to put Newcastle level on points with 4th placed Tottenham which gives their Champions League challenge hope.

Everton 4 Sunderland 0
You would not have thought Martin O'Neil's men would have been thrashed by Everton 4-0.
Even without top striker Nikica Jelavic, Everton comfortably saw off Sunderland with an inspiring performance from Steven Pienaar.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Norwich City 2
Tottenham fail to move back into 3rd place, and keep the pressure on rivals Arsenal, with a shock 2-1 defeat to newly promoted side Norwich.
 19:10:
FULL-TIME:
Aston Villa 1 Stoke City 1
This match was played at Villa Park, as 15th placed Aston Villa hosted 12th placed Stoke.
Midfielder Andreas Weimann started his 2nd match for Villa and capped it with another goal in the 32nd minute to break the deadlock for the home side.

Defender Robert Huth equalised for the visitors in the 71st minute to make it 1-1 from a powerful header to give Stoke a point from the match.


Chelsea vs Fulham:
Team line-ups:

Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, John Arne Riise, Duff, Murphy, Diarra, Frei, Dembele, Dempsey. Subs: Stockdale, Orlando Sa, Kasami, Senderos, Etuhu, Briggs, Kacaniklic.

FACT: Fulham could leapfrog Liverpool, ino 8th place, with a win against Chelsea today.

Strong Fulham side, with Clint Dempsey, Kerim Frei (one to watch for the future!), Moussa Dembele and John Arne Riise in the attacking frame, while Danny Murphy, Damien Duff, Mohammadou Diarra and Brede Hangeland in the defensive style of play.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Bertrand, Mikel, Meireles, Kalou, Lampard, Ramires, Torres.
Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Mata, Drogba, Malouda, Bosingwa, Sturridge.

FACT: Chelsea could move into 4th place, with a 2 goal win against Fulham today.

Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata all on the Chelsea bench, needed a rest ahead of a long fortnight.
Defender Branislav Ivanovic will probably play his last EPL match for rthis month, with a three match ban hanging over his head after an off-the-ball incident with Shaun Maloney (he punched him) against Wigan on Saturday just before he scored.
John Terry starts despite broken ribs along with John Obi Mikel and Fernando Torres.

20:40:
Craven Cottage,
Fulham vs Chelsea:
End-to-end 40 minutes in the match. Striker Fernando Torres had a shot from a dangerous area blocked by Hangeland, Midfielder Raul Meireles' shot was wide from 25 yards out, Fulham winger Kerim Frei had a low drive well saved by Petr Cech.

Both teams have had good spells of possession with precise passing by Dempsey, Riise and Frei for Fulham.
The same with Lampard, Ramires and Mikel for Chelsea.
Despite the rain, a good game of football but still goalless.
Two yellow cards for Chelsea, with Meireles and Cahill despite calls that they were harsh fouls. None for Fulham though who could open the scoring with Dempsey etc.
Chelsea breaking the deadlock would not be unsurprising though.

43:
PENALTY
Danny Murphy lunged into striker Salomon Kalou with both feet in from 16 yards out.
It looks a little bit harsh as Kalou was not going to score and defenders were behind him.
About to be taken, by midfielder Frank Lampard.
He steps up to take it.... and shoots.... GOAL!!
Powerful shot by Lampard, and even though goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer went the right way, the ball had too much pace to control and keep the ball out of the net.

FACT: Frank Lampard has now scored 150 goals in the EPL for Chelsea.

Fulham 0 Chelsea 1.

45: The fourth official signals only 1 minute of stoppage time to be added on here at Craven Cottage.

45+1: The referee blows the whistle to end the first half here.
The cameras are showing Fulham players still protesting the penalty decision, but it will not bring the scoreline back to 0-0.
Fulham are trailing by a controversial Lampard penalty just before half-time, and may feel they should be the side in-front at the break.


MORE TO FOLLOW SOON!