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

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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

Latest EPL Transfer News – Yakubu joins Everton, Belletti joins Chelsea…

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Yakubu all set to join Everton:

Everton have agreed a club record transfer fee of 11.25 million pounds ($27.6 million) with Middlesbrough for Aiyegbeni Yakubu.

Yakubu, who trained with Middlesbrough on Wednesday, is now due on Merseyside to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical and if all goes according to plan he should be available to make his Toffees debut against Blackburn on Saturday.

Over the past four seasons, only former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has scored more English Premier League goals than Yakubu.

Belletti joins Chelsea:

Chelsea Football Club and FC Barcelona have reached an agreement for the transfer of Juliano Belletti.

The transfer fee is around the 5.5 million Euro mark. Belletti will pen a three year deal after completing a medical and agreeing terms.

Well this has ended Chelsea's search for a right-back. While most of the fans were expecting Chelsea to sign Daniel Alves from Sevilla – but after Sevilla refused to budge from their 36 million euro valuation of the right-back, and in fact even raised it to 40 million - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho moved quickly for the experienced Belletti, underlining chairman Bruce Buck's insistence that they would not be held to ransom in any transfer deal.

Kasey Keller joins Fulham:

Veteran goalkeeper Kasey Keller has joined Fulham.

The Cottagers have been short of options in goal this season, following an injury to first-choice Niemi and with a lack of cover for Tony Warner in the Finn's absence.

Most of you might remember Keller from his days at Spurs.

Latest EPL Transfer News – Mido joins Middlesbrough and Dyer completes West Ham switch

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Mido joins Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have completed the £6million signing of Tottenham's Egyptian international striker Mido on a four-year contract.

Boro beat off competition from newly-promoted duo Birmingham and Sunderland to land the 24-year-old, who has been granted a work permit.

Middlesbrough would now like to hold on to Yakubu and the prospects of these two teaming up in the front should assure Boro of a few goals.

Kieron Dyer finally completes West Ham move
Kieron Dyer's on-off move from Newcastle to West Ham has finally been concluded after the two sides agreed terms. The deal should be somewhere between the £6million to £8million mark.

Dyer could even make his debut for West Ham this weekend against Birmingham. He would be joining his ex-Newcastle team-mates Scott Parker, Craig Bellamy and Lee Bowyer at Upton Park. Their team surely looks strong on paper.

Other Transfer News:

Chelsea want Daniel Alves
Chelsea are set to increase their offer for Sevilla wing-back Daniel Alves after the Spanish club rejected an initial bid of £21.5million.

The player's agent remains confident the two clubs will soon reach an agreement - paving the way for Alves to move to Stamford Bridge.

Benfica midfielder Manuel Fernandes is set to join Everton within the next 24 hours. The deal is said to around the £6million mark.

Leeds have agreed to sell verteran winger Eddie Lewis to Derby County for an undisclosed fee.

Via – SportingLife

EPL Results – Everton beat Tottenham

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Everton continued their perfect start to the season with a convincing 3-1 win at White Hart Lane which condemned the Spurs to the bottom of the table.

Toffees took the lead in the third minute after Mikel Arteta’s superb free-kick found the head of Lescott who made no mistake is putting it past Paul Robinson.

Spurs then drew level in the 27th minute when Anthony Gardner scored via a Jermaine Jenas corner. Everton restored their lead eight minutes before half-time when Osman smashed home his second goal of the season. Things got worse for Tottenham when Everton grabbed their third just before the break when a free-kick by Stubbs took a wicked deflection and landed in the back of the net.

Tottenham were very unlucky in the second half with Howard making some great saves and even the woodwork came to Everton’s rescue.

Nothing short of a win over Derby County will do for Spurs on Saturday, while Everton face a tough trip to Reading this weekend.

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Season Preview - Everton

Last season: 6th, 58 points; FA Cup third round; Carling Cup fourth round

Transfers:

In: Phil Jagielka (Sheff Utd, £4m); Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund, loan); Leighton Baines (Wigan, £5m); Lucas Jutkiewicz (Swindon, undisc);

Out: James Beattie (Sheff Utd; £4m); Richard Wright (West Ham, free ); Gary Naysmith (Sheff Utd, £1m); Scott Phelan (Bradford, free); Alessandro Pistone, Alan Kearney (released)

Official Website: http://www.evertonfc.com/

Official Kit:

Last five seasons Everton have finished: 7th-17th-4th-11th-6th and that indicates another disappointing season on the cards for Everton…
But perhaps, no real trough will follow the latest peak and Everton should once again be there or thereabouts in the battle for Europe.

On the pitch, Everton are the only team outside the big four to reach the Champions League qualifiers since Newcastle in 2003 – but they didn’t last long enough to make any impression. They need to make sure that they put up a good show in the UEFA Cup this season.

The problem for Everton is that they have not been able to do as much as they would have liked to do in the transfer market. Their biggest success so far has arguably been getting rid of the non-scoring James Beattie.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

After what was a relatively easy home game against Wigan to start the season, Everton now embark on a prolonged rough patch of fixtures. Trips to Tottenham, Reading, Bolton, and Aston Villa all come during the first two months of the season, as do home games against Blackburn and Manchester United. The first fierce Merseyside derby takes place at Goodison Park on October 20th, with the return match at Anfield on March 29.

December will prove to be the toughest month of the season as not only do they have to play 6 games (the last 3 of which in a span of 7 days), their opponents include two of the best teams in the Premiership. Portsmouth, West Ham, and Manchester United will play the role of not-so-merry hosts and Everton also plays Fulham, Bolton, and Arsenal at home.

The schedule is considerably more forgiving (at least on paper) from the start of the new year until the end of the season, so look for Everton to make a big second half push.

EPL08.com prediction:
League Position – 7
Andrew Johnson needs to start slotting in a lot more goals if Everton are to finish anything higher than 7th position. They might a fancy a decent run in the UEFA cup this time around and also expect them to reach the latter stages of one of the domestic cups.

Arteta and Cahill should shine this season.

Latest Results – Saturday Review: Sunderland shock Spurs and all other Scores

Aston Villa 1 - Liverpool 2

A stunning free-kick just three minutes from time by Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a 2-1 win at Aston Villa in their Premier League opener on Saturday night. It had looked that Villa had done enough to claim a draw when Barry fired home a penalty in the 85th minute, but Liverpool captain Gerard ensured that they got their title aspirations to a decent start and slotted home a brilliant 25-yarder shot.

Sunderland 1 - Tottenham 0

Earlier in the day, Roy Keane’s Sunderland shocked Spurs with a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light. Michael Chopra delighted the Desi followers of the game along with the thousands of Sunderland fans as he side-footed a goal in injury time.

West Ham 0 - Manchester City 2

Sven-Goran Eriksson claimed victory in his first competitive match as a club manager in England as Manchester City beat West Ham 2-0 at Upton Park.

Eriksson’s new signings shone through as Rolando Bianchi tapped home the opener following an amazing run by Elano. Geovanni slammed in late to ensure the victory.

Everton 2 – Wigan Athletic 1

Everton claimed a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic at Goodison Park thanks to a 26th-minute header by Leon Osman and a 75th-minute goal by Victor Anichebe.

Antoine Sibierski pulled one back for the Latics from close range in the 80th minute but Everton held on for the victory.

Bolton 1 - Newcastle 3

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce made a stunning winning return to his old club Bolton as his team secured a comprehensive 3-1 win at the Reebok Stadium.

The game was pretty much over by half-time as Magpies were up by 3-0 at the break. The first goal came via a free-kick from Charles N’Zogbia. Martins smashed in an acrobatic second. He scored his second in the 27th minute.

Anelka slotted in a goal in the 51st minute after some clever work by Kevin Nolan – but it proved to be nothing but a consolatory goal.

Middlesbrough 1 - Blackburn 2

Middlesbrough started their campaign badly after throwing away a one goal lead. A curling Stewart Downing free-kick gave them the lead and Blackburn were dealt a massive blow when McCarthy had to be carried off on a stretcher after suffering a head injury early in the second half. However, his replacement Roque Santa Cruz scored the equaliser when he headed in David Bentley's cross from the right (63).

The winner came from young striker Matt Derbyshire in the 79th minute.

Derby 2 - Portsmouth 2

Newly-promoted Derby made a lively start to their campaign with a 2-2 draw at Pride Park against much fancied Portsmouth.

Matt Oakley netted the first for Derby with just 4 minutes having passed. Benjani Mwaruwari equalized for Pommies before new-signing John Utaka gave them the lead. The lead was very short-lived as defender Andy Todd equalized for Derby via a spectacular diving header.

EPL08.com - Predictions for the 2007-08 Season

Here's how we feel the tables going to look like at the end of the season:

1. Chelsea
Though there's more pressure on Mourinho to win the Champions League, I feel Chelsea will have to wait for yet another season to lay their hands on the elusive European title. The league will be a consolation of sorts, but something Chelsea should be able to get back from United.

2. Manchester United
Though they have loaded their team up with a lot of stars, I expect Manchester United to slip up in the league and shine in Europe this season. A Champions League final vs Barcelona at Moscow would be a classique!

3. Liverpool
With the massive amount of money which Liverpool have splurged this year - a non-top three finish might see heads roll at Anfield. In fact supporters feel that this is the season where they can actually end their 17 year title drought.

4. Arsenal
Theres not much pressure at the Emirates Stadium this year. Arsene Wenger is building for the future. No one expects miracles this year and this might play to their favour. We might get to see some exciting free flowing football from the young gunners this season.

5. Tottenham
The Spurs have an attacking line-up which could match that of Manchester United. Berbatov, Defoe and Keane - each had in excess of 10 goals last season and the addition of ₤ 16.5 million Darren Bent just adds to their attacking riches. But again, there's going to be lot of expectations at White Hart Lane - especially because of the amount of money spent in the summer.

6. Newcastle
Under-achievers for ages - this is finally going to be a season in which the Magpies will redeem themselves to a certain extent. Mainly because of the genius of Sam Allardyce. They'll need their strike force to remain injury-free too.

7. Everton
Andrew Johnson needs to start slotting in a lot more goals if Everton are to finish anything higher than 6th position. They might a fancy a decent run in the UEFA cup this time around and also expect them to reach the latter stages of one of the domestic cups.

8. Aston Villa
Martin O'Neill has been a winner for too long to accept another season treading water at Villa Park. A lot of names have left Villa this season but they've got in a couple of good players too. I definitely expect them to push for UEFA cup. Watch out for Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young this season.

9. Manchester City
A top 10 finish might be on the cards. Sven-Goran Erikkson has pretty much bought a truck load of players and that too not for cheap. I bet he's not even see half of them play! Language is going to be a serious problem at City this season, but I still have a feeling that Erikkson might be able to prove his managerial acumen and pull off a top 10 finish.

10. West Ham United
There's absolutely no chance that the Hammers are going to get caught in a relegation battle again. They've acquired some real good players - Ljungberg, Bellamy and Parker and coupled with Alan Curbishley's massive experience, I expect the Hammers to squeeze into the top half.

11. Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn has hardly seen any transfer activity this season with the only major signing being that of Roque Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich. But Blackburn have a pretty strong squad - able mid-fielders and plenty of striking options.

12. Portsmouth
Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak handed Harry Redknap a 25-million-pound transfer kitty and Harry's made quite a few signings. Portsmouth might lack the big names but have one of the most balanced squads this time around. Expect them to surprise a few teams but they've got the cruelest of schedules to start off with. After opening the year at newly promoted Derby County, it's home against Manchester United and Bolton, away to Chelsea and Arsenal, back home against Liverpool, at Blackburn, and then home against Reading.

13. Bolton
After four consecutive top 8 finishes under manager Sam Allardyce - the Trotters are going to find the going pretty tough this time around. A lot will depend upon Anelka - who might still leave before the transfer window shuts and even El-Hadji Diouf is keen on a move to Lyon. Kevin Nolan needs to stand up and deliver though I feel a player like him deserves to play in a top 4 squad.

14. Reading
Their fairytale premiership debut - in which they finished 8th - is definitely not going to witness a repeat. Reading over achieved last season and they have also lost arguably their best player in Steve Sidwell, who left for the greener pastures of Stamford Bridge.

15. Middlesbrough
Last seasons 12th to 16th places were separated by only 7 points and it's pretty much going to be the same this year. Not much separating teams at these spots. Gareth Southgate isn't going to find it easy this season either. A cannot see a repeat of a UEFA Cup final appearance in the near future. Yakubu really needs to put on his striking boots.

16. Fulham
Fulham were lucky to survive last season, mainly courtesy of a win against a pretty depleted Liverpool side. New manager Lawrie Sanchez has brought in a host of Northern Ireland players. I expect the Cottagers to struggle this season too - thought Sanchez might be able to survive the drop.

17. Birmingham
Many expect Birmingham to go straight back to the Championship, but I feel that the team has enough quality to avoid relegation. They've got in Liam Ridgewell and Franck Quedrue to bolster the back. The striking options are a little weak, Cameron Jerome and Mikael Forssell have to really perform if Birmingham are to stay up.

18. Sunderland
It's going to be real close dog-fight and the fiery Roy Keane might not be able to retain his cool at the end of it. Keane did wonders in his first year at Sunderland, but even he'll known that the going is pretty different in one of the best top division leagues in the world. We'll keep a special watch on the Desi flavour ala Michael Chopra.

19. Wigan Athletic
Without Paul Jewell in charge, Wigan don't look to have much chance of staying up. Season before last, Wigan surprised a lot of teams by finishing in the top half. Last year they barely managed to avoid relegation by beating Sheffield United on the last day of the season. Things are not going to be rosy for new manager Chris Hutchings.

20. Derby County
In 12 months, Derby County went from third last in the Championship to promotion to the Premiership. The roller-coaster ride should be complete in another 12 months when the Rams find themselves back in the Championship.


Those are my predictions for the coming season and I'd love to hear yours. Been really busy with other work, so haven't been able to put up a team by team season preview yet. Expect
some of it to be up real soon.

Cheers and be sure to stay with us for the entire season.

Latest EPL Transfer News - Ballack not leaving Chelsea and many other updates

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Newcastle United have signed Spain Under-21 international Jose Enrique from Spanish side Villarreal for £6.3m.

The 21-year-old left-back, who watched the Magpies beat Sampdoria 1-0 on Sunday, has agreed a five-year deal.

Meanwhile the deal between West Ham and Newcastle for Kieron Dyer seems to have fallen apart over valuation. Dyer was all set to join the Hammers for around £6 million but then Newcastle suddenly realized that they had under-valued the player their playe and demanded a further £2million causing West Ham to pull out of the move.

West Ham were pretty furious after the sudden price hike and still seem to be interested in signing Dyer - but will not go above the £6 million mark.

Mido still seems to be in demand. After not being able to agree personal terms with Birmingham there were rumours that he might have to stick around for some more time at Spurs – but Roy Keane is interested in signing Mido for Sunderland as he gets ready for his rookie season as a Premiership boss.

Sunderland face competition from Fulham – who were linked with Mido at the start of the summer, but a move did not materialize.

At Old Trafford, the transfer saga of Gabriel Heinze continues. due back to training with Manchester United today, and he's held face-to-face talks with Sir Alex Ferguson in a bid to resolve the row over his proposed move to Liverpool.

Over at Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson's is keen to sign a Goal Keeper soon and The Manchester Evening News claims that Scott Carson and Carlo Cudicini are his top targets.

Everton seem to have won the race to sign left-back Leighton Baines. Baines is expected to complete the switch from Wigan on Tuesday after he agreed personal terms and underwent a medical. The deal is around the £5million mark.

Over at Chelsea – who seem to be a little rattled with numerous injuries topped with the FA Community Shield defeat to Manchester United...
Michael Ballack has insisted that he won't be leaving Chelsea and that he has had "no contact with Real Madrid whatsoever". Reports that Barcelona were mounting a fresh move for Frank Lampard have been denied by the Catalans.

At Bolton, Senegalese forward El-Hadji Diouf is heard to be pushing for a move to Lyon. The 26-year-old joined from Liverpool around two years back but has reportedly been considering his future at the Reebok since the departure of Sam Allardyce, who has apparently even made moves to lure him to Newcastle.

Via: Sporting Life

EPL Fixtures 2007-08: August

[You are on the page of EPL Fixtures - August. Click Here to view the complete list of fixtures for the month of September]

In this and the subsequent series of posts we'll take you through the fixtures of the upcoming season. But with almost 10 games each weekend, we'll have a look at games which you cannot afford to miss!

Note:
The Fixtures list is a Copyright © and Database Right The FA Premier League and one cannot officially publish the whole list.
It is available at PremierLeague.com

Kick-Off Weekend:

Saturday 11 August, 2007:

Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur
Bolton vs Newcastle United
Derby County vs Portsmouth
Everton vs Wigan Athletic
Middlesbrough vs Blackburn Rovers
West Ham United vs Manchester City
Aston Villa vs Liverpool

Sunday 12 August, 2007:

Arsenal vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Birmingham City
Manchester United vs Reading

Other Matches definitely worth watching in the month of August (Apart from those of your favourite team):

Tuesday 14 August, 2007:

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton
Two teams which have spent a fair deal of money in the Summer and who are sure to push for a top 4 finish.

Sunday 19 August, 2007:

Manchester City vs Manchester United
The Manchester Derby is never short of action. This will be Sven Goran Erikkson's first major challenge.
Erikkson vs Fergusson is going to be a nice battle for sure.

Liverpool vs Chelsea
Liverpool and Chelsea face-off pretty early in the season. In a rivalry which has continued over the last couple of years with Liverpool being responsible for 2 of Chelsea's Champions League exits in the last 3 years.

Last year in the Premiership it was the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool that realistically ended Chelsea's title challenge. With both teams adding several new players - this game is definitely a must watch.

Mark it in your calendars.

Sunday 26 August, 2007:

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur
A clash between these two is always a feisty affair. Tottenham have spent lots of money pre-season and now seem to have a pretty strong team on paper. This ones going to be a nice one to see how some of the new stars perform.

The Complete List of all the games in August can be found here.

Where is Alan Smith headed to?

What really happened to Alan Smith? He was part of the star-studded Leeds United team which made it to the Champions League Semi-Final some years back. At Leeds he was a teen idol for supporters. Smith was the poster boy for the club for the 2002-2004 seasons, winning the "Supporter's Player of the Year" award two years running, a first in Leeds history.

He was almost single-handedly trying to ensure that Leeds avoided the relegation drop in 2004. But after Leeds were demoted – Smith made it clear that he wanted to move.

His transfer to bitter rivals Manchester United, led to controversy and his exit was marred by accusations of treachery going from hero to villain from the view of Leeds fans in the space of a day. Leeds fans were not angry at Smith for leaving to further his England prospects and fully understood this. Their anger was at him going to the club most hated by Leeds fans.

Smith never did settle down in Manchester. A stint marred with injuries, Smith managed only 7 goals in his entire stay (61 games). With Manchester adding several new players to star in their mid-field, getting a regular playing spot would be highly impossible.

He has reportedly been given permission by Manchester United to find a new club for the coming season and apparently a lot of them are interested…

Everton have apparently made a vacancy for Alan Smith to arrive on Merseyside after accepting a £4million bid from Sheffield United for striker James Beattie.

Apart from David Moyes' side, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Manchester City and Middlesbrough are all linked with the former Leeds United ace.

Though I wouldn’t mind seeing him play at Newcastle, it doesn’t really make sense as to why Sam Allardyce would be willing to pay £6 million for him. They already have Ameobi, Owen, Viduka and Martins. Unless of course Big Sam feels he might end up losing Martins or Owen before the season or perhaps has a mid-field role in mind for Smith.

Manchester City are considering 7m bid for Smith. With Shakhtar Donetsk beating City in Castillo from Olympiacos, chances of Smith swapping stadiums in Manchester itself is quite a possibility.

Well the bottom line is that Alan Smith is definitely not going to start the season at Old Trafford and any team which pays up anything more than 5m should be able to land him.