Toyota Football Fever Show 10
What the UK papers said this week?
1) Eriksson's agent plays down Nigeria
links
Sven-Goran Eriksson's agent has dismissed
reports linking the former England coach with the managerial
position at the Nigerian national team as 'absolute nonsense'.
Speculation regarding the Swede's immediate
future was sparked when Tord Grip, Eriksson's assistant
during his time with England, told Swedish Radio that the
58-year-old had met with Nigerian officials in Stockholm.
2) True Story Of The Day
'A young Gwent mother feared she would die
after her boyfriend attacked her with a baseball bat as
her five-year-old son lay asleep upstairs. Gemma Marcarian,
21, from Henllys, Cwmbran, was attacked by jealous Shaun
Coleman after she said Portugal and Manchester United footballer
Cristiano Ronaldo was "gorgeous" during a televised
World Cup game' - The South Wales Argus.
3) QUOTE
"The worst thing about playing Chelsea
is having to listen to Mourinho afterwards" - Barcelona
defender Edmilson.
4) FA chief Barwick defends McClaren
appointment
Football Association chief executive Brian
Barwick today leapt to the defence of Steve McClaren's appointment
as England manager and denied his organisation had been
'sluggish' in finding a successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Speaking at a sport business conference in
London, Barwick agreed that England's recent performances
had been below par after a promising start to McClaren's
reign, but claimed it was too early to judge Eriksson's
former number two.
Transfer Rumours
Manchester United have confirmed they will
make a fresh bid for Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves
in January. (Daily Mirror)
United are also considering a January move
for Wigan full-back Leighton Baines. (Independent)
Aston Villa are preparing a £4m bid
for Newcastle's James Milner after his loan spell there
last season. (Daily Mirror)
Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder will target Blackburn's
Lucas Neill, Chelsea's Wayne Bridge and Middlesbrough's
Mark Viduka in January. (Daily Star)
Other Gossip
Ruud van Nistelrooy has had a training ground
bust-up with Real Madrid team-mate Raul Bravo. (The
Sun)
Terry Brown will stay on as West Ham chairman
once a planned takeover goes through - meaning Alan Pardew's
job is safe. (Daily Mirror)
Brian Laws and Bryan Robson are battling it
out to become Sheffield Wednesday's new boss. (Daily
Mirror)
Last Weeks Premiership Results
| Man City 1 |
Middlesbrough 0 |
| Dunne (23) |
|
Report: Manchester City's
yo-yo season took another firm jolt in the right direction
as skipper Richard Dunne netted the only goal in the 1-0
win against Middlesbrough. Unable to win away, the Blues
are unbeatable at home and are still to concede a goal.
| West Ham 2 |
Blackburn 1 |
Sheringham (21)
Mullins (80) |
Bentley (90) |
Report: Teddy Sheringham
produced a vintage claret and blue performance as West Ham
finally brought their eight-match losing streak to an end.
The 40-year-old veteran put West Ham on the road to victory
with a pinpoint header from Yossi Benayoun's lofted cross
after 20 minutes.
| Sheff Utd 0 |
Chelsea 2 |
| |
Lampard (43)
Ballack (49) |
Report: Third-choice keeper
Hilario came to Chelsea's rescue before Frank Lampard wrapped
up three hard-earned points for the champions with a 2-0
win over battling Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. The
Portuguese stopper - preferred to the returning Carlo Cudicini,
who was on the bench - dived low to his left to keep out
Danny Webber's 17th-minute penalty before Lampard took over.
| Liverpool 3 |
Aston Villa 1 |
Kuyt (31)
Crouch (38)
Garcia (44) |
Agbonlahor (56) |
Report: Rafael Benitez will
believe his management style was vindicated by what was
for most of their 3-1 home win over Aston Villa a hugely-improved
Liverpool display. After the horror defeat at Old Trafford
and the shock of reading of a boardroom split over his methods,
the Liverpool boss needed a confidence-boosting victory
and it came with an excellent first-half display that saw
Dirk Kuyt, Peter Crouch and Luis Garcia put Liverpool into
a seemingly unassailable lead.
| Arsenal 1 |
Everton 1 |
| Van Persia (71) |
Cahill (11) |
Report: Robin van Persie
produced a wonderful free-kick to deny Everton a memorable
victory at the Emirates Stadium. Van Persie curled a left-footer
into the top corner 20 minutes from time to salvage a 1-1
draw for the Gunners in the Premiership.
| Portsmouth 3 |
Reading 1 |
Gunnarson (og10)
Kanu (52)
Mendes (66) |
Doyle (84) |
Report: Kanu grabbed his
seventh goal of the season, Pedro Mendes rifled his first
and Benjani Mwaruwari missed his usual bundle of chances
as Portsmouth strolled to a 3-1 victory over Reading. Pompey,
who would have had victory sewn up at half-time if not for
Benjani's air-shot from six yards after being presented
with an open goal by a piece of Kanu magic, were unstoppable
after the break.
| Bolton 0 |
Man Utd 4 |
| |
Rooney (10,16,89)
Ronaldo (82) |
Report: Wayne Rooney consigned
his 10-match goalscoring misery to the dustbin with a sensational
hat-trick which propelled Manchester United to a 4-0 victory
at Bolton and back to the Premiership summit. Having marked
his United debut with a three-timer against Fenerbahce two
years ago, Rooney has waited quite a while to wander off
with another match ball.
Report: Tommy Smith produced
one of the misses of the season in the goalless draw with
Tottenham at Vicarage Road to ensure Watford are still looking
for their first Barclays Premiership victory after 10 matches.
Smith somehow shot over an open Tottenham goal in the eighth
minute - a moment that summed up the struggles Watford are
enduring as they try to adapt to life in the top flight.
Report: Newcastle once again
squandered a host of chances as Charlton left Tyneside with
a goalless draw. Giuseppe Rossi hit the bar before the break
and Damien Duff twice saw shots saved by Scott Carson when
he might have done better, allowing Iain Dowie's struggling
side to claim a morale-boosting point.
Report: Wigan registered
their first away win of the season after Henri Camara pounced
in the second half to snatch a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage.
The Latics looked destined to record their only goalless
draw since entering the Premiership after Danny Landzaat
missed a 76th-minute penalty.
Team of the Week - Man Utd
Ripped Bolton apart, when Rooney is hot he
is untouchable
Player of the Week - Teddy Sheringham
40 years old and still banging them in like
he was a sprightly teenager
Upcoming Premiership Games
Tottenham v Chelsea
Suspensions
Injuries TOT - Zokora, Tainio, Malbranque, (Davenport)
CHE - Cech, (Cudicini)
Prediction 1-2 (Actual 2-1)
Reason: This would seem
like another game that Chelsea should be expected to grind
out three points and maintain their good run, and they probably
will. Tottenham seem to have started poorly – and
they now seem to have settled into the role of mid table,
but should give Chelsea a good game here.
Fulham v Everton
Suspensions
Injuries FUL - Boa Morte, Bullard, Christanval, Crossley,
Pembridge, Elliott, Elrich
EVE - Weir, Hibbert, Naysmith, Pistone, (Valente)
Prediction 1-2 (Actual 1-0)
Reason: Everton are having
a great season at the moment and Johnson has contributed
so much to the team. After last weeks great result at Arsenal
Everton will want to go out and score early.
Bolton v Wigan
Suspensions
Injuries BOL - Pedersen, O’Brien, Gardner, (Faye)
WIG - Skoko, Taylor
Prediction 1-0 (Actual 0-1)
Reason: Bolton took a drubbing
last week while Wigan had a good away win. Bolton missed
Nolan last week and if he returns should help them win.
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Suspensions
Injuries AST - Delaney, Samuel, Moore, (Whittingham)
BLA - Reid, Nelson, Enckelman
Prediction 2-1 (Actual 2-0)
Reason: Aston Villa lost
for the first time last week and will look to avenge this
and I feel they can take Blackburn.
Man Utd v Portsmouth
Suspensions
Injuries
MAN - Silvestre, Ji-Sung, (Heinze)
POR - Stefanovic
Prediction 3-2 (Actual 3-0)
Reason: This is a game that
Man Utd must win – Porstmouth have had a good start
but will have their first big test this week. 3-2 to Man
Utd
Liverpool v Reading
Suspensions
Injuries LIV - Bellamy, Agger, Kewell
REA - Kitson, Murty, Mate, Brown, Cox, Halls, Ujah, (Convey)
Prediction 2-0 (Actual 2-0)
Reason: Reading have been
on a poor run of late and I expect Liverpool to follow up
with another 3 goals. Liverpool’s early season success
has been built on a strong defence, and I can see Reading
having problems scoring here – Liverpool should win
by a couple.
Watford v Middlesbrough
Suspensions
Injuries WAT - King, (Carlisle)
Prediction 1-1 (Actual 2-0)
Reason: Watford will be
keen to get their first win of the season in this London
derby, but are lacking the firepower at the moment. Although
with Middlesbrough still not quite back to their best I
feel that Watford will get something out of the game with
a draw.
Newcastle v Sheff Utd
Suspensions
Injuries NEW - Sibierski, Given, Owen, Emre
SHF - NONE
Prediction 1-1 (Actual 0-1)
Reason: Glenn Roeder’s
Newcastle have been quite dreadful recently, Bramble does
his best each week to try and gift the opposition a goal
however I can see this one being a draw.
West Ham v Arsenal
Suspensions
Injuries WHM - Bowyer, Ashton
ARS - Adebayor, Eboue, Ljungberg, Lauren, Baptista, (Diaby)
Prediction 2-1 (Actual 1-0)
Reason: West Ham are back on form and should
win this one. With Arsenal playing in Europe and West Ham
tactically lightening their schedule there can only be one
outcome.
Charlton v Man City
Suspensions
Injuries MAC - Dabo, Isaksson, Jihai, (Beasley), (Ireland)
CHA - Lisbie, Gibbs, (Traore), (Sorondo) MID - Viduka, Riggott,
Christie, Ehiogu
Prediction 1-1 (Actual 1-0)
Reason: Man City, and under-fire
boss Stuart Pearce have important players coming back into
the side for this game. Thatcher returns from suspension
and Reyna, Trabelsi, Ireland, Distin and Beasley could well
return from injury.
