'We need that kind of focus in every game'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger chats to the media and fans after upsetting Chelsea at Stanford Bridge

On the importance of the win…
"It is a massive win for us because we recently lost two games unexpectedly, and to lose today would have put us 13 points adrift of Chelsea; that would have been too much. It was a test of character and we came here maybe without the needed level of confidence but we showed from the start that we have character and I think we were a bit unlucky to be behind at half-time.

"In the second half we slowly moved on top and started to win the fight in the middle of the park. From then when we had the ball we looked as though we could be dangerous. So I am very, very happy to now, after beating Manchester United, we beat Chelsea and I believe that brings us back. It is still far but not impossible. I have an intelligent team, a talented one, but we want to come back with humility and work hard. We have learned that we need that kind of focus in every game no matter who you play."

On a slow start...
"In the first-half I think they [Chelsea] started a bit stronger and it took us 15 minutes to get into the game. We were on the back foot and then came slowly in. When we got in we scored an own goal. I had to tell the players to keep the high pace as long as we could because that was when we looked dangerous. I didn’t think we should be concerned by the fact we were trailing, but just to keep the high pace, get closer to their midfield – we had given them too much freedom before – and that changed the game."

On the team's title credentials…
"It is true that we have more regrets this season, but the results show we have the level needed to be there [at the top] but it is up to us in the coming months."

On injuries…
"We have been disturbed by injuries you know, sometimes with nine players out, and that is too many. You can take four or five but nine is too much."

On getting in the right mindset…
"I believe this is part of the learning process, to win when you are not on the edge. You know you will not be is the same mindset every game, but you must learn to win whenever. I have an intelligent group and a young one. When you think you can just turn up and win, it is not good enough."

On the performance of William Gallas…
"I think William was outstanding today, absolutely amazing. He came out of that troublesome period with, for me, a lot of credit. His commitment is fantastic and he was outstanding today, and had already been like that against Kyiv on Tuesday night. It shows he is a fighter."

On partnering Johan Djourou and Gallas in defence…
"I wanted to try that partnership and I believe also Song gives us the stature to defend in the air. Djourou added it too, and we were a bit stronger in the duels and in the air."

On being a threat from high balls…
"We felt in the first half that we could be dangerous in the air because we had some joy with Van Persie winning some balls and of course with a fit Adebayor, he can win in the air against anybody."

On Chelsea's stuttering home form…
"Sometimes it is strange in this game. Remember when we went 49 games unbeaten and then lost, we couldn’t win again for five games. It looks like a sort of charisma goes when you lose a long record. It looks like players have been on top of Mount Everest and then get knocked all the way down, and now you must tell them to climb back up again."
On John Terry's challenge on Bacary Sagna…
"I think it was a bad tackle because he had no chance to get the ball. It was not bad because he had two feet on the ground, a sliding tackle, one that wasn’t intended to hurt Sagna."

On the psychological ramifications of the match…
"I believe the win gives us the belief we can come back [into the title race], but what it does to Chelsea, I don’t know."

Source: Arsenal Media

29 November Premiership picks

Another round of the English Premiership is here and Sports Trader makes its picks for Saturday.

Middlesbrough v Newcastle - Newcastle win
Wigan v West Brom - Draw
Sunderland v Bolton - Draw
Aston Villa v Fulham - Aston Villa win
Stoke v Hull - Hull win

Good luck punters!

Fifa Packages

I read with quite a lot of interest, this article that said that Over $115m (about R 1.1bn) worth of 2010 World Cup hospitality packages have been sold to South African companies.

I don't think I'm in any position to question the figure, although in my head it doesn't add up.

In my head, we're in the middle of a massive global financial and economic crisis - for SA to be ahead of sales in Germany (for the equivalent period ahead of the previous World Cup) doesn't sound right.

What concerns me though is that these are sales to SA corporates and business. The point of the World Cup was to bring in foreign revenue and rich Americans and Europeans with their hard currencies to buy SA products and services and support the local economy.

Obviously we're still 18 months away from the event, so it will be impossible to get a figure on that, but it would be interesting to know how many foreigners are going to come into SA and spend their money and how well the overseas marketing of this event is going...

Champions League Predictions - 25 / 26 November 2008

From the Sports Trader blog

We had an absolute nightmare last time round trying to make some calls on the Champions League fixtures. Hopefully this next round brings a higher success rate.

There are no easy games in Europe at the moment and English clubs have battled. With injuries taking their toll, we're not particularly bullish on their prospects this week either.

Tuesday - 25 November
Zenit St Petersburg v Juventus - Juventus win
AaB v Celtic - Celtic Win
Villarreal v Man Utd - Villareal win
Fiorentina v Lyon - Draw
Bayern Munich v Steaua Bucuresti - Bayern Munich win
Arsenal v Dynamo Kiev - Arsenal draw
Fenerbahce v FC Porto - draw
BATE v Real Madrid - Real Madrid win

Manchester United make an unenviable trip to Villareal minus key marksman Bergatov. With Christiano Ronaldo in doubt, we're betting against them taking anything from this fixture.

Cesc Fabregas takes over the captaincy of Arsenal following William Gallas' indiscretions. With Arsenals' up and down form in the last few weeks, we're not particularly confident in backing them.

Wednesday 26 November
Bordeaux v Chelsea - Draw
CFR Cluj-Napoca v Roma - Roma win
Inter Milan v Panathinaikos - Inter win
Anorthosis Famagusta v Werder Bremen - Werder Bremen win
Shakhtar Donetsk v Basle - Draw
Sporting v Barcelona - Barcelona win
Atletico Madrid v PSV - Atletico Madrid win
Liverpool v Marseille - Draw

Chelsea and Liverpool we've marked down to draw but we're backing the Spanish clubs (Atletico Madrid, and Barcelona) to do the business.

If you are looking for high scoring games, we're recommending you look at the Roma and Inter Milan fixtures...

Good luck punters.

Nice draw for Bafana Bafana in the Confederations Cup draw

The South African team has drawn Spain, Iraq and New Zealand in Group A for the Confederations Cup. Some interesting match ups there and if SA can get there heads out of the clouds then we could get through the first round.

World champions Italy, Brazil, Egypt and the United States are in Group B.

Bafana kick-off the Confederations Cup against Iraq who are something of an unknown quantity on 14 June at Ellis Park (Coca Cola Park) in Gauteng

Spain and New Zealand take on eachother at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium the same night.

On 17 June 2009, Bafana play New Zealand at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on June 17 at 8.30pm and then wrap up their group stage against Spain who are at the Free State Stadium on June 20.

Planning to travel and support your team?

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Book a holiday in South Africa - Click Here

TravelStart.co.za Find out which airline is really the cheapest - Click Here

Vidic vs. Villa

It is interesting to compare two different perspectives of a game. Nemanja Vidic was involved in a pretty big telling incident in the Villa vs. United game yesterday and could have made for some very grumpy United fans if Villa had won the penalty.

These are the comments that Vidic made on the Manchester United site yesterday:

Vidic: Villa shut up shop

Nemanja Vidic felt Aston Villa's stifling tactics were the reason United failed to score in a league game for the first time in a year.

The Reds were much the better side but only created a handful of chances against a well-drilled Villa outfit, for whom pacy Gabriel Agbonlahor was the only out-and-out attacker.

"When a team defends with 10 players for the whole game, it’s hard to create chances," Vidic told MUTV. "We had a great strike from Ronaldo, Rooney had an opportunity and a few chances from set-pieces, but we couldn't score."

Vidic was involved in the game's major talking point during the second half as he got into a tangle with Agbonlahor and the striker eventually went down just inside the box, but referee Chris Foy waved away Villa's penalty claims.

Vidic continued: "The referee could have given the foul 30 yards from goal, but once we reached the box I touched the ball and I'm sure it wasn't a penalty. Agbonlahor is quick and today they defended and used his pace to surprise us."

With Liverpool and Chelsea also being held to goalless draws, United missed out on the chance to close the gap at the top, but Vidic knows there will be plenty more points dropped between now and the end of the season.

"We knew we had a good opportunity to get closer to Liverpool and Chelsea but we didn’t take it and now we need to focus on the next game," the Serbian added. "The season is long: Chelsea and Liverpool drawing shows the top teams are going to lose points at home this season."

'How we deal with this will shape our future'

On the emphatic scoreline…
"We had a good focus and I believe it is a flattering victory for Manchester City today. We conceded in stoppage time [at the end of the first-half] and before that they had not created much. We were quite in control but after the goal the game turned and they played on the counter-attack. We played into their hands.

"We lacked the maturity to deal with being in a dominant situation and not getting caught; it was a free-kick to us, then a goal for them. After that the third goal was a soft penalty."

On keeping to his principles…
"It is a defeat but I feel in the game it was a 0-0 with whoever scored first gaining the advantage. I believe in good passing rather than putting a man up there waving his hands in the air."

On a scrappy first goal …
"I think the first goal was a miss-kick rather than a lack of fight. We had too many players focussing on one ball, that was our problem then."

On the absentees…
"I won’t talk about William Gallas. He is just a player who did not play today so we don’t need to talk about that or any of the other nine players who missed the game."

On moving forward from here …
"I think we had enough focus and gave everything. It is not always negative and we have to take the positives and keep the belief. In a big club you have to go through these periods, and how we deal with it will shape our future."

On the importance of self assessment …
"I always look at myself, even when we win. We are not in a blaming culture at our club and we must stand up to our own responsibilities."

Source: Arsenal media

Manchester United Verdict

Martin O'Neill was absolutely thrilled with the effort and commitment of his claret and blue troops as they earned a deserved draw against Barclays Premier League champions Manchester United.

But the Villa boss pulled no punches after admitting his disappointment that Nemanja Vidic wasn't punished for a challenge on Gabby Agbonlahor in the second half.

MON told AVTV: "If you had said to me after the Middlesbrough game that the next two matches would yield four points, I would have been delighted.

"I thought it was important to battle very strongly and we did that well. We could have nicked it at the end but we also had moments to endure ourselves. Overall, it was a very hard-fought draw.

"We were spirited and resilient. The players are doing splendidly and putting a big effort into the games.

"The last two matches have pitted us against the very, very best. United won't be too far away at the end of the season. They have so much movement, such creativity and good players.

"It was a great effort against them and I am so pleased with my players. They put a big effort into the match and if we had been beaten it wouldn't have been through a lack of effort."

On the subject of the tussle between Agbonlahor and Vidic on the hour mark, O'Neill added: "It was a penalty. You can see it back and consider if it was inside the box or outside the box. But it wasn't just that.

"The decision is a massive one because even if it is outside the box, it's a foul. And the player, having committed the foul and as the last man, has to be sent off.

"The referee chose not to give it. I thought it was too big for him. I thought the consequence of the decision was too big for him.

"It was a major moment. He had a hold of Gabby throughout the move. I can understand the referee being hesitant about giving the penalty but not about giving the foul.

"It was a goalscoring opportunity and the consequence should have been Vidic being sent off."

Source: Aston Villa media

SA soccer chugs along

Another weekend of South African football and the big guns (excluding Sundowns) were firing:

Bidvest Wits 1 - 4 Kaizer Chiefs
Orlando Pirates 4 - 2 Thanda Royal Zulu FC
SuperSport United 2 - 0 AmaZulu
Golden Arrows 1 - 1 Bloem Celtic
Free State Stars 1 - 1 Mamelodi Sundowns

Chiefs in particular needed a big win after the loss to Pirates but the log still remains very open after 9 rounds.

Chiefs' latest recruit Nigerian striker Ibe Ogbonna scored twice - once from open play and once from the penalty spot, while skipper Jimmy Tau took a lot of credit for marshalling the Chief's defence.

Golden Arrows - 19
SuperSport United - 17
Bidvest Wits - 17
Kaizer Chiefs - 15
Mamelodi Sundowns - 15
Orlando Pirates - 15
Ajax Cape Town 13

(Ajax have a game in hand over the other sides)

Well well well

An intriguing day in the English premiership yesterday with the Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United drawing and Arsenal slipping up badly against a fiery Manchester City lineup.

Results as follows:
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Man Utd
Middlesbrough 1 - 3 Bolton
Liverpool 0 - 0 Fulham
Stoke 1 - 0 West Brom
Man City 3 - 0 Arsenal
Portsmouth 2 - 2 Hull
Chelsea 0 - 0 Newcastle

A quick look at the log:

Chelsea - 33
Liverpool - 33
Man Utd - 25
Aston Villa - 24
Arsenal - 23
Hull - 22
Everton - 19

Everton and Manchester United have a game in hand.

Mafikeng Derby - Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates

As a football blogger, I think I would be amiss not to highlight the result of what is arguably South African footballs biggest rivalry this weekend when Orlando Pirates took on Kaizer Chiefs.

Both sides have had indifferent starts to their seasons with Pirates having one of their worst starts on record, but a kick in the pants seems to have fired up Pirates in particular.

Through the Goals For Miracles campaign the two goals from Orlando Pirates raised a total charity funding of R100 000 (50 000 for each goal scored), to the benefit of the cataract operations performed through the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB), the Pretoria Eye Institute’s Sight 4 U Cataract Project, and Netcare in association with Vodacom For You.

Goals For Miracles is a joint-initiative between Vodacom, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates


Venue: Mafikeng Stadium
Date: 15 November 2008
Kick off: 16H00
Kaizer Chiefs 0
Orlando Pirates (2) (Gilbert Mushangazhike 22, Lucas Thwala 33)

Kaizer Chiefs winning streak came to an end after Saturday afternoon when Amakhosi lost by 2-0 against archrivals, Orlando Pirates. In what was a sizzling heat in Mafikeng, Orlando Pirates started the game on fire and two goals one from Zimbabwean born striker, Gilbert Mushangazhike and the second one a tap in from Lucas Thwala were enough to hand Orlando Pirates their fourth win in a row.

Top websites:
I'll be honest, I hadn't been on to either the Chiefs or Pirates websites in a while and I was blown away by the quality of the sites. I think some of them might even put their counterparts in the english premiership to shame!

'At the moment we are not consistent enough'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger comments on the 0-2 loss to Aston Villa at home.

On the performance…
“The performance was not good but it was the kind of game where you can win 1-0. Could we have lost the game in the first half? Yes. But we lost it today when we should not have lost it anymore. At that moment we were closer to winning it. It was the kind of game where you cannot afford a mistake at the back and I believe we were punished because of that.”

On conceding controversial goals…
“We were a bit unlucky as well on the first goal because we have Bacary Sagna who is down after getting injured. I believe as well for the second goal there was a blatant foul on Carlos Vela on the edge of their box. Instead of having a chance to play 1-1 we are then 2-0 down.

“The referee could have stopped the play but I don’t complain because of that. We scored an own goal, Villa didn’t score the goal.“

On the Jekyll and Hyde performances this week and last week…
“That is football, how can you explain the performance of Villa last week against Middlesbrough and the performance they produced today? It is the same. Top level performance is consistency. At the moment we are not consistent enough to be produce that kind of performance week-in week-out.

“You have to accept that the game is played by human beings and sometimes physically they have a drop. It is very difficult for us to have a rational explanation about what happened today. I believe that the team want it but it was just like a few other times this year where it is unexplainable why we don’t really play at our 100% potential.”

On what the defeat means to his side’s title aspirations…
“I don’t believe that you can speak about champions or not champions. If you want to be champions you want to be consistent and at the moment we are not.

“I do not want to go on definite solutions or headlines. I just think that despite the fact that we were not at our best, this game was winnable. We lost it at a moment when we should not have lost it anymore. Had we lost it in the first half, ok ‘bye-bye’ they had their day and they won. But we lost this game today from the moment when we shouldn’t lost it anymore.”

On deserving defeat…
“How many times was I in press conferences where I thought that we deserved to win the game but we lost and everybody finds it absolutely normal. I say Villa played well and they deserved to win but we lost the game from the moment when we were slowly getting on top of them. That is the kind of game where you cannot afford to make mistakes defensively. We were not sharp and they were never in the situation where they had to come out.

“When we made the changes it was 0-0 and we lost 0-2. You can make all kinds of explanations but as a team we were not sharp”

On Villa breaking into the top four…
“I don’t want to talk about Villa because I don’t know them very well. Today they played very well but I saw the game against Middlesbrough on tape and they could have lost six or seven so it is very difficult for me to assess. They have a big potential if you look at the performance today.”

On the side’s inexperience costing them…
“Maybe I don’t know. At the back it could be explained but upfront a little bit less.

“Yes we had a very young midfield but we played against more experienced midfielders. Any midfield in the league is more experienced than ours but it doesn’t stop us from dominating them.”

On Sagna’s injury…
“Yes it is serious. He will be out for a few weeks; he has an injured ankle.”

On January signings…
“It is too early. We are mid November we have to see where we are at the end of December. Anyway at the moment to speculate about transfers it won’t help.”

Masterclass!

Villa produced an absolute masterclass to outgun Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

An own-goal from Gael Clichy and a clinical finish by Gabby Agbonlahor clinched Villa's first away win over the Gunners since November 1993.

Agbonlahor's presence forced Clichy to head an Ashley Young cross into his own net in the 70th minute while the young striker raced clear 10 minutes from time to secure a memorable victory.

All this came after wing wizard Young had missed a penalty in a first half dominated by the visitors.

With better fortune, Villa may even have won more convincingly.

Source: http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk

Premiership Picks – 15/16th November 2008.

The English Premiership is shaping up nicely into a very open championship race early on.

After 12 rounds the top 6 is shaping up nicely:

Chelsea - 29

Liverpool - 29

Arsenal - 23

Man Utd - 21 (11 games)

Aston Villa - 20

Hull – 20

Saturday 15 November

Bolton v Liverpool – Liverpool win

Man Utd v Stoke - Man Utd win

West Ham v Portsmouth - Draw

Fulham v Tottenham – Tottenham win

Arsenal v Aston Villa – Aston Villa Win

Blackburn v Sunderland – Blackburn Win

Newcastle v Wigan - Draw

West Brom v Chelsea – Chelsea win

For me, clash of the weekend has to be the Arsenal vs. Aston Villa fixture. Apart from being an ardent Aston Villa fan, I just think the hot and cold nature of Arsenal makes them vulnerable. Backing Villa to surprise here.

Manchester United has a tricky game against Stoke, who tripped up Arsenal not so long ago. My gut instinct is to say back the draw, but hhhhmmm Man Utd at Old Trafford seems like a step too far.

Personally – I wouldn’t want to be West Brom this weekend. Chelsea were stung in midweek by Burnley in the Carling Cup and they might want to make an example of the WBA team.

Sunday 16 November

Everton v Middlesbrough – Everton win

Hull v Man City – Hull win

I like Everton. They’ve started to come good and they’re a plucky side in much the same way that Hull have been. Going to back them for a win here.

While both Hull and Man City have been on a bit of a slippery slope since starting the season with a bang, I’m backing Hull to take the win. Man City have manager issues which need to be resolved before the players start delivering the results on the field….

Source: Sports Trader blog

'It was a game for those who love football'

On the importance of the result…
“I feel it was a very important result because I imagine what would have happened if we had lost today. Mathematically it was very important for us to stay close to the top and to show what kind of determination, spirit and mental attitude we have. We went out there today thinking that we will win no matter what happens. No matter what happens on the pitch we will keep going and that is what we did.

“We won against, for me, a great Man United side and the difference was maybe we took our chances early on and they didn’t. After we scored the second goal we did hang on but tried to score the third goal on the counter attack. We wouldn’t do that and that is why the game remained very tight until the end.”

On the contribution of Samir Nasri…
“When he is in front of goal he can finish with his right foot or left foot. He has a lot of pace and power and I encourage him to go in the final third. He was a more typical playmaker in France who gave the ball and took it back. I believe that with his pace he can penetrate in the final third and he will score plenty of goals. That is what he did today because he is a tremendous finisher.”

On ever doubting his side’s chances…
“I didn’t doubt the spirit of my players. I acknowledged that we made some mistakes, especially against Tottenham, but I never questioned the spirit, quality or ability to play for the championship.

“There is only one thing in our job and that is to go on the football pitch and show how much you want it, show quality on the pitch – and spirit – and that is what we did. I believe above all today it was a fantastic football game because both teams played with the right spirit.”

On winning despite missing players…
“For example you had a player like Nicklas Bendtner today who had an outstanding game. It shows how different this job is because on Wednesday he was not especially on his best form and three days later he produced a quality performance. It was a team answer, first of all we showed that we have the squad which is questioned so many times. We showed that no matter who plays we have the spirit.”

On Man United’s squandered chances…
“I do not want to talk too much about the difference between the teams but I thought that we did everything that was needed to win the game. If you say we could have lost it if they had taken every chance, maybe. But we have done everything we could to win this game and our attitude cannot be questioned, nor our quality. Personally I do not question the quality of Man United.

“You know that every big game is like that. I just said after the game that Man United are a great team. They have just won the European Cup last year and the Premier League last year, you cannot be a small team and do that. Of course they are a great team, of course they had chances as well, but we had chances too. That is why I believe it was a cracking football game. If you love football, I do not say you love Arsenal or Man United, today it was a game for people who love football.”

On facing another ‘football playing’ side…
“Football becomes very interesting when both teams want to play, we have seen that again today. I believe that apart from Stoke, we went to Bolton and Blackburn and we won in a convincing way. We had one accident at Stoke and after it provoked hysteria. After the 0-0 against Fenerbahce we have eight points in the Champions League and no one else has more apart from Juventus who have 10. All across Europe nobody has more than eight points in the Champions League. It is difficult sometimes to understand why everybody became so critical so suddenly.

“There is respect [for Sir Alex Ferguson] of course. I believe that we are surviving battlers in this game and therefore I have a lot of respect for him. We both play football.”

On playing out six minutes of injury time…
“I felt ‘that’s a very long time’. Just before they scored the fourth official told me it was going to be six minutes and I asked him if he was sure, what’s that? I have never played six minutes here.

“I personally would have preferred it if they had gone to the corner flag. I prefer that to passing the ball around in our own half with three minutes to go. We would prefer to have a positive attitude in the other half of the pitch. I want them first to be in the other half of the pitch then they are as close to the corner flag as possible.

“You always have to be cautious though because on day when we played Chelsea it was 2-2 and Kanu had the ball. I told him to go to the corner flag but he didn’t listen and he went and scored the third and we won 3-2. If the players have the quality then they always find the right answer.”

Source: Arsenal.com News Archive

Telkom KO cup - 8 / 9 November

The Telkom knock out cup in South Africa is where the local soccer action. Here are the picks from the Sports Trader blog.

A rich prize in the local arena will be a big incentive for all the sides.

Saturday fixtures
Free State Stars v Bay United - Bay United win
Moroka Swallows v Orlando Pirates - Orlando Pirates win

Bay United managed to shock Sundowns in the last round and we're calling them to keep going against an average Free State Stars side.

Despite their up and down form in the league this season, I don't see how you can look beyond Pirates in this round.

Sunday fixtures
SuperSport United v Bloemfontein Celtic - Supersport United win
Ajax Cape Town v Golden Arrows - Ajax Cape Town win

In the Saturday fixtures, we backed the away sides. For Sunday we're backing the two home sides to take the honours.

Supersport United have been in top form and they should do the business against Bloem Celtic.

The Ajax vs. Golden Arrows match up is a little tougher but we're going with the Ajax side....

Premiership picks - 8 / 9 November

The next round of the English Premiership is here. Sports Trader makes its Premiership picks for the weekend

Saturday fixtures:
Wigan v Stoke - Draw
Arsenal v Man Utd - Arsenal win
Sunderland v Portsmouth - Draw
Hull v Bolton - Hull win
West Ham v Everton - Everton win
Liverpool v West Brom - Liverpool win

The pick of the weekend is the Arsenal vs Manchester United fixture. Despite Arsenal's loss to Stoke, we're quite bullish on their chances against Man United. We're backing them for a win here.

Hull should stay on track with another win and Everton should have the beating of West Ham.

Sunday fixtures
Blackburn v Chelsea - Draw
Aston Villa v Middlesbrough - Aston Villa win
Man City v Tottenham - Draw
Fulham v Newcastle - Draw

We're probably going to upset the Chelsea fans but we don't think they're going to get the job done against Blackburn. The loss to Roma during the week and some nagging injury issues should count in Blackburns favour.

Aston Villa should carry on their winning ways.

Manchester City are taking on the rebounding Tottenham side in what should be an interesting match up. We're predicting draw.

Newcastle take on the hot and cold Fulham - we're calling a draw here.

Champions League Picks from Sports Trader

The world's greatest football clubs lineup for the next round of the Champions League and Sports Trader has made its predictions for the 4 / 5 November rounds.

The Liverpool vs. Atletico Madrid game is going to be an intriguing match up.

Liverpool are playing great football at the moment, but with marksman Fernando Torres expected to miss this game, there are going to be some tough questions asked of their attack. With a couple of close games in recent weeks and the rather surprising loss to Spurs on the weekend, we are calling a draw.

Roma vs Chelsea is another big game - more specifically for Chelsea. We're expecting Chelsea to do the business here, despite the travelling.

If you are looking to go high on the goalscoring front then look to either the Barcelona or Inter Milan games.

4 November 2008
Roma v Chelsea - Chelsea win
CFR Cluj-Napoca v Bordeaux - Draw
Werder Bremen v Panathinaikos - Werder Bremen win
Anorthosis Famagusta v Inter
Milan - Inter Milan win
Barcelona v Basle - Barcelona win
Sporting v Shakhtar Donetsk - Sporting Win
Marseille v PSV - Marseille win
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid - Draw

For the 5th of November games, we're not putting a hell of a lot of faith in the English clubs.

We're going long Celtic for a win against Manchester United and Fenerbahce to hold Arsenal to a draw.

Picking a high-scorer was tough but we're going long on Bayern Munich to do the deed and rack up a big score against Fiorentina.

Real Madrid v Juventus - Real Madrid - Win

Celtic v Man Utd - Celtic win
Fiorentina v Bayern Munich - Bayern Munich win
AaB v Villarreal - Villarreal win
Lyon v Steaua Bucurest - Draw
Arsenal v Fenerbahce - Draw
Dynamo Kiev v FC Porto - FC Porto win
BATE v Zenit St Petersburg - Zenit St Petersburg win

Good luck punters

Redknapp - "We kept going"

Harry Redknapp admitted we 'rode our luck a little' but felt the lads got their rewards for not giving up against Liverpool.

Leaders at start of play, Dirk Kuyt put the visitors 1-0 up with less than three minutes on the clock and it looked a tough task to turn things arund against a side that had won eight of 10 games and conceded only seven goals.

Boss Harry changed things around at half-time by introducing Roman Pavlyuchenko and Alan Hutton, switching to a 4-4-2 system.

We had to weather the storm in the first 10 minutes of the second half though as Liverpool hit the woodwork twice and wasted another two clear-cut chances to extend their lead.

The scoreline stayed at 1-0, however and we started to work our way back into it. The equaliser arrived via the head of Jamie Carragher from David Bentley's corner after 69 minutes and then, with the clock ticking into added time, Bentley's shot was saved by Pepe Reina only for Darren Bent to cut the ball back for Pavlyuchenko to slot home the winner.

"Liverpool are so difficult to play against," reflected Harry. "We started the game with one striker and Luka Modric in just behind and we'd passed the ball well in the last couple of games but in the first half we couldn't play the ball through Liverpool and get the ball up to him.

"They fill the midfield up so well with Mascherano, Alonso, Gerrard drops off the front and there was no way out for us, the only way was back to our centre-halves, there was hardly a forward pass on.

"We changed it around at half-time and went with two strikers.

"We had take a gamble and I felt we had to be more direct, miss the midfield out and at least try to get a little pressure on them.

"We were 1-0 down but I said at half-time 'you can't tell me we haven't got enough ability in this dressing room to go out and score a goal ourselves' and told them we were still in it.


"Liverpool had some good chances and in the second half we rode our luck a little, for sure.

"We kept going and in the end when you keep going, when you don't give up, you get your rewards and that's what happened.

"The result gets us off the bottom as well and that's important."

Source: http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com

Chelsea spending spree been capped?

I've just read a story in a South African Sunday news paper.

Apparently Luiz Phillipe Scolari was under the impression that he had 28m pounds when the UK transfer window opened again.

Unfortunately the global financial crisis has rocked even the deepest pockets and club owner Roman Abromovich has communicated to him that no money will be forthcoming unless Scolari sells some players....

Interesting times...