UEFA Cup 2007-08 – English Teams (First Round)

[Click Here to view the Groups of UEFA Champions League]

Everton vs Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine):
Everton have been paired with Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv in the draw for the first round of the UEFA Cup.

The first-leg will be played at Goodison Park before David Moyes’ men tackle the Ukrainians who finished third in their league, in the return leg.

Bolton vs FK Rabotnicki (Macedonia):
Bolton were drawn against Macedonian outfit FK Rabotnicki. Sammy Lee's men face an away trip first before returning to the Reebok Stadium. Bolton would be boosted after Anelka penned a contract extension and Diouf committed himself to the club too.

Blackburn vs Larissa (Greece):
Blackburn were drawn against Greek outfit Larissa with the first leg in Greece for Mark Hughes' men.

Tottenham vs Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus):
Tottenham will face Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta with the first leg-tie at White Hart Lane. Heavy expectations shouldn’t really weigh the Spurs down. I expect them to go quite far in the UEFA Cup this season.

The first legs will be played on September 20 with the return fixtures on October 4. All the 4 Premiership teams should advance to the next round easily.

Complete UEFA Cup Draw can be found Here

Champions League Draw – All Groups (32 Teams)

Group A:

LIVERPOOL
FC Porto
Marseille
Besiktas

Group B:

CHELSEA
Valencia
Schalke
Rosenborg

Group C:

Real Madrid
Werder Bremen
Lazio
Olympiakos

Group D:

AC Milan (Holders)
Benfica
Celtic
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group E:

Barcelona
Lyon
VfB Stuttgart
Rangers

Group F:

MANCHESTER UNITED
Roma
Sporting Lisbon
Dynamo Kiev

Group G:

Inter Milan
PSV Eindhoven
CSKA Moscow
Fenerbahce

Group H:

ARSENAL
Sevilla or AEK Athens
Steaua Bucharest
Slavia Prague

Chelsea want Ronaldinho while Liverpool look to capture Baptista

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Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain remains "totally convinced" Ronaldinho will not leave for Chelsea and shrugged off rumours that Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich held two meetings with Ronaldinho's brother and adviser in a bid to persuade the Barcelona star to join the Blues.

Begiristain insisted Ronaldinho, who has three years left on his current contract, is staying at the Nou Camp.

Chelsea were linked with a £40million move for the Brazilian super-star.

Meanwhile, Liverpool fresh from their 4-0 thrashing of Toulouse in the Champions League on Tuesday night have tabled a bid of 20million euros (£13.5million) for Real Madrid striker Julio Baptista.

The Brazilian - nicknamed 'The Beast' - spent last season on loan at Arsenal but failed to shine consistently, although he did net four goals as the Gunners beat Liverpool 6-3 in a Carling Cup tie at Anfield in January.
After helping Brazil win the Copa America over the summer he was linked with a move for AC Milan, but it is now claimed Rafael Benitez has entered the bidding with an offer that may be enough to tempt Real to sell.

Via: Sporting Life

Transfer News: Man City wants Players to leave while West Ham are desperate to sign some.

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Manchester City ready for transfer-window closing sale:

Sven-Goran Eriksson has warned his fringe players to leave the club now or face being left out in the cold for the rest of the season.

Darius Vassell, Georgios Samaras and Bernardo Corradi are the three most likely to leave. Eriksson also wants to find new clubs for Danny Mills and Paul Dickov.

The former England manager added: "I have spoken to some of the players here who still have contracts but are not in the team." You have to be fair and tell them that they will not play much football if they stay here. It is professional and correct to tell them now rather than at Christmas time."

Eriksson, who has already spent around £40million, has been linked with Brazilian Inter Milan striker Adriano and Portugal international Nuno Gomes.

Curbishley read to spend as Dyer joins the injured list:

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley admits he might have to make some emergency purchases before the transfer window closes on Friday following Kieron Dyer's broken leg at Bristol Rovers.

Curbishley has already seen Freddie Ljungberg, Scott Parker and Julien Faubert sidelined - and lost Dyer against Bristol Rovers in a Carling Cup game.

He said: "At the moment I feel the luck is against us. I am sitting there with £20million worth of players out injured. It's disappointing but we have just got to get on with it and that's what the squad is for.”

It seems unlikely that West Ham will be able to land Adriano from Inter Milan. The club confirmed talks with Inter Milan about a loan deal but Adriano is reported only to be interested in a permanent move.

Super Sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer retires

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has brought the curtains down on his playing career with Manchester United - but his Old Trafford days are not over yet.

After 11 years and 366 appearances for the club he has had to finally call it a day due to an ongoing knee injury.

Solskjaer joined united for £1.5million from Norwegian side Molde and literally immortalized himself after he famously scored the winner in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich to help the club win the treble in 1999.

The 34-year-old even scored 11 goals last season as United again won the Barclays Premier League crown, but he has never fully overcome his knee problem.

However, the man famously nicknamed 'the baby-faced assassin', will remain at United in a coaching capacity and will continue to represent the club as an official ambassador.

Here’s a tribute to the jersey No. 20 Legend, The Super Sub, The Baby-Faced Assassin – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer:

LIVE EPL Scores and Results

Just wanted to highlight a feature of our blog – LIVE EPL Scores.

On the Left Hand Side of this site you’ll notice 2 widgets. One is the Live EPL Table which is automatically updated and one for the Latest Results.



The Latest Results widget also couples as a Live Scores channel. You can follow each and every game which is being played at the moment.

Click on a particular game being played and you’ll be taken to a page where you can view FREE Live Updates (Commentary) along with various game statistics.



The LIVE EPL Scores on our site is brought to you by SportingLife.

EPL Predictions – Do you know the score?

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Last weekend I managed 7 correct result predictions! Think you can do better?
Why don’t you join the EPL08.com Prediction league at IKnowTheScore right away!

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1. Go to http://iknowthescore.premierleague.com/.
2. Register.
3. Once done and logged in, on the right hand side amidst the various links you’ll notice Mini-Leagues. Click on it.
4. You’ll see an option of joining a Private League.
Enter this code there: 19c8-GGGM

If you also play Fantasy Premier League – then the code for joining our league there is:
225874-47670

EPL Weekend 4 – Results and Review: Man United notch first win, Arsenal stop Man City and Chelsea go top.

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Results - EPL Weekend # 4:

Sunderland 0 – Liverpool 2:
(Prediction was: Liverpool to win 1-0)

Sunderland's misfortunes continued as they fell to their second defeat of the campaign. New keeper Craig Gordon lived up to his £9 million tag and produced a series of superb saves but could not keep Liverpool at bay for the entire match.Goals from Mohamed Sissoko and Andriy Voronin gave the visitors a 2-0 victory.

Arsenal 1 - Manchester City 0:
(Prediction was: 1-1)

Manchester City's 100% start to the season came to a halt at Emirates stadium as they conceded their first goal of the campaign and saw Chelsea overtake them at the top of the table. Kasper Schmeichel's continued his brilliance between the posts as he saved a penalty from Robin van Persie. But he couldn't keep out Cesc Fabregas' fierce shot ten minutes from time which gave Arsenal a 1-0 victory.

Aston Villa 2 – Fulham 1:
(Prediction was: Aston Villa to win 1-0)

An early goal by Clint Dempsey gave Fulham the lead against Aston Villa. Villa claimed a deserved equaliser when Ashley Young's cross was deflected into his own goal by Zat Knight on 50 minutes. Chris Baird was then sent off for a second yellow card before Shaun Maloney scored in injury-time to hand Villa a thrilling 2-1 victory.

Bolton 3 – Reading 0:
(Prediction was: 1-0)

Bolton Wanderers finally recorded a win and with it their first points of the season. Goals from Gary Speed, Nicolas Anelka and substitute Daniel Braaten secured a 3-0 home victory over Reading. Other good news for them is that Diouf is happy to stay back at Bolton for the remainder of the season. Reading must be hoping the same from their defender Shorey.

Chelsea 1 – Portsmouth 0:
(Prediction was: Chelsea to win 2-1)

Chelsea took top spot in the Barclays Premier League thanks to a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge. After scoring for England midweek, Lampard did the same for his club and a fierce shot on the half-hour mark beat David James and secured all three points for the Blues.

Derby 1 – Birmingham 2:
(Prediction was: Derby to win 1-0)

Birmingham City won the clash of the promoted sides at Pride Park with a 2-1 triumph over Derby County. Jerome put the visitors ahead after only 32 seconds. Matt Oakley leveled on 51 minutes but Jerome's second goal twelve minutes later sealed three could-be-crucial points for Birmingham.

West Ham 1 – Wigan 1:
(Prediction was: 2-0 for West Ham)

Two late goals left honours even between West Ham United and Wigan Athletic at Upton Park. Wigan scored when Paul Scharner's overhead kick found the corner of the net in the 79th minute before Lee Bowyer finished from a tight angle two minutes later to leave it 1-1.

Everton 1 – Blackburn 1:
(Prediction was: 1-1)

Goodison lived up to my prediction and saw Everton and Blackburn fight out a 1-1 draw. James McFadden equalized for Everton with his first goal of the season after Roque Santa Cruz's third goal of the season (2nd in the EPL) had given Blackburn Rovers a first-half lead.

Middlesbrough 2 – Newcastle 2:
(Prediction was: 1-1)

Mark Viduka was on target on his return to the Riverside Stadium as Middlesbrough and Newcastle United played out an eventful 2-2 draw. Charles N'Zogbia opened the scoring for Newcastle in the 22nd minute but Mido's second goal in as many games saw Boro back on level terms six minutes later. Viduka netted his first goal for the Magpies and thought he’d secured a win against his former team but Julio Arca’s late strike salvaged a draw for Middlesbrough.

Manchester United 1 - Tottenham 0:
(Prediction was: Man U to win 2-0)

Manchester United chalked up their first win of the season thanks to sensational goal by Nani. The Portuguese youngster drove a spectacular long-range effort past Paul Robinson and into the top corner of the Tottenham Hotspur net. This was only the second goal of United's second till now but it was to give the Champions a 1-0 victory over Spurs.

Have a look at the goal:


Nani First Goal In Man Utd - Subscribe to the EPL08.com RSS feed

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