City Make a Move on the Top Four

Carlos Tévez (pictured) and Emmanuel Adebayor scored for Manchester City in their 2-0 home defeat of Bolton Wanderers at Eastlands. The first half penalty from Tévez and the 73rd minute goal from Adebayor bring City on equal points with fourth place Liverpool with a game in hand. The Citizens are now just five points short of third place Arsenal, again with a game in hand. For Bolton, the defeat was bad news as the Trotters sit precariously on the edge of the relegation zone, just one point clear.

Fulham ran circles around Burnley at Craven Cottage in a 3-0 blasting of the Clarets. Danny Murphy, David Elm and Bobby Zamora all scored in the first hour as the Cottagers had little trouble with foundering Burnley. The Clarets are in sixteenth place and if not for a win mid-week against West Ham would still be in the drop zone. Fulham inch up to ninth place, passing Everton for the moment.

Tuncay Şanlı equalized for visiting Stoke City on 74 minutes to share points with Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, 1-1. Paul Scharner had given the home side the lead after just fourteen minutes but the goal would not hold up. Each club remain fairly safe from relegation as the Potters sit in eleventh and the Latics in fourteenth.

Finally, Portsmouth were granted five minutes of extra-time to equalize after Darren Bent saw Sunderland ahead in the twelfth minute. Aruna Dindane came through for Pompey in that fifth extra minute, drawing the home side even and stealing a point from the Black Cats. Pompey move to within five points of nineteenth place Wolves but are still deeply mired in dead last. Sunderland failed to make up ground on either Blackburn or Stoke in losing the two points at the last second.

England Away Kit Finally Released

Following months of speculation and teases, Umbro finally released their 2010 World Cup kit for England. The change kit is based of course on the 1966 World Cup winning side.

Portugal’s away kit has also been leaked. Though it should be pointed out that Chelsea’s 1974/75 change kit and Mexico’s 1978 World Cup kit were nearly identical to this Portugal choice.

For all the latest updates on World Cup kits, go to the 2010 World Cup Kits Page.

Several New World Cup Kit Leaks

World Cup kit leaks for Australia (home and change), Portugal (home) and Brazil (away). Be sure to check out the 2010 World Cup Kits Page for all the newest updates and leaks.

Big thanks to Football Shirt Culture who is always on top of these kit leaks.

AC Milan to Change Sponsorship to Emirates Airlines

Italian giants AC Milan will join Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain as major European football clubs sponsored by Emirates Airlines. The Dubai government-owned airline will replace bwin, an Austrian betting website, as the shirt sponsor of Milan for the next fours years. The deal is reportedly worth in the area of €50m which should swell the coffers at the San Siro.

2010 Portland Timbers Schedule Release

The 2010 regular season schedule for the Portland Timbers has been released. Friendlies and exhibitions will be announced later, so any news of a possible Manchester City sighting in Portland will have to hold off for now.

Update:
Pre-Season matches to date:

February:
February 17 – Timbers v. Univ. of Portland Pilots – 7pm

March:
March 11 – Timbers @ Seattle Sounders – 6pm
March 20 – Timbers @ San Jose Earthquakes – 7pm

April:
Saturday April 17 – Timbers v. Rochester – 7pm
Thursday April 22 – Timbers v. St. Louis – 7pm
Sunday April 25 – Timbers @ Montreal
Thursday April 29 – Timbers v. Vancouver – 7pm

May:
Thursday May 13 – Timbers v. Crystal Palace Baltimore – 7pm
Saturday May 15 – Timbers v. St. Louis – 7pm
Wednesday May 19 – Timbers v. Montreal – 7pm
Saturday May 22 – Timbers @ Crystal Palace Baltiomre

June:
Sunday June 6 – Timbers v. Carolina – 6pm
Wednesday June 9 – Timbers @ Austin
Saturday June 12 – Timbers @ Miami
Thursday June 17 – Timbers v. Minnesota – 7pm
Saturday June 19 – Timbers @ Minnesota
Sunday June 27 – Timbers v. Tampa – 5pm

July:
Saturday July 3 – Timbers v. Vancouver – 7pm
Saturday July 10 – Timbers v. Miami – 7pm
Thursday July 22 – Timbers @ Vancouver
Wednesday July 28 – Timbers @ St. Louis
Saturday July 31 – Timbers @ Tampa

August:
Wednesday August 4 – Timbers @ Rochester
Wednesday August 11 – Timbers v. Minnesota – 7pm
Saturday August 14 – Timbers @ St. Louis
Saturday August 21 – Timbers @ Minnesota
Thursday August 26 – Timbers v. Austin – 7pm
Sunday August 29 – Timbers v. Crystal Palace Baltimore – 6pm

September:
Thursday September 2 – Timbers v. Puerto Rico – 7pm
Saturday September 11 – Timbers @ Carolina
Saturday September 18 – Timbers @ Puerto Rico
Saturday September 25 – Timbers @ Crystal Palace Baltimore

October:
Saturday October 2 – Timbers @ Vancouver

Premiership Predictions – Round 26

Another short week in this World Cup year brings the Premier League back into action mid-week. Both Chelsea and Manchester United will face tough tests this round as they continue to increase the distance between themselves and the rest of the Premier League. Chelsea will travel to Everton and United to Villa. Arsenal will hope the top two lose but face a stiff test with Liverpool coming to the Emirates. Elswhere, Manchester City and Tottenham will hope to respond from poor performances with points against lower-tier clubs. And Birmingham City can get that much closer to a top-seven finish if they have their way with West Ham at Upton Park.

Tuesday:
Bolton @ Manchester City – City
Sunderland @ Portsmouth – Pompey
Stoke City @ Wigan – Draw
Burnley @ Fulham – Fulham

Wednesday:
Liverpool @ Arsenal – Arsenal
Manchester United @ Aston Villa – United
Birmingham City @ West Ham – Brum
Tottenham @ Wolverhampton – Spurs
Chelsea @ Everton – Chelsea
Hull City @ Blackburn – Draw

mao’s Challenge Table:
Jereme – 430
mao – 430
Trey – 419
Mark – 415

mao’s Results Thus Far:
Round 1 – 15 points
Round 2 – 9 points
Round 3 – 24 points
Round 4 – 24 points
Round 5 – 21 points
Round 6 – 19 points
Round 7 – 18 points
Round 8 – 14 points
Round 9 – 20 points
Round 10 – 12 points
Round 11 – 21 points
Round 12 – 12 points
Round 13 – 20 points
Round 14 – 12 points
Round 15 – 17 points
Round 16 – 11 points
Round 17 – 16 points
Round 18 – 19 points
Round 19 – 19 points
Round 20 – 27 points
Round 21 – 2 points
Round 22 – 14 points
Round 23 – 24 points
Round 24 – 21 points
Round 25 – 19 points

Euro 2012 Qualifying Draw

Qualifying groups for Euro 2012 were drawn today in Warsaw, setting up campaigns for the Ukraine/Poland hosted tournament. Group play matches will take place between September 2010 and November 2011. No group appears to be particularly deadly, though Group B’s selection of Russia, Slovakia and Ireland could be interesting as none of those sides are fantastic but are all three quite good. Likewise, Group D’s posting of France, Romania and Bosnia stands to be exciting. Traditional rivals Germany, Turkey and Austria will all battle in Group A while Group E ends up being the Scandinavian division with Holland, Sweden and Norway. Here’s how the groups came out:

Group A:
Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Group B:
Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra

Group C:
Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands

Group D:
France, Romania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg

Group E:
Holland, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino

Group F:
Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta

Group G:
England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro

Group H:
Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

Group I:
Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein

Premier League Kits Weekly – Round 25

Liverpool got back into the top four with a big win in the Merseyside derby with Everton. The Reds were home at Anfield and were appropriately dressed in their all-red outfits. Everton wore their home versions in the loss.

At Turf Moor, Burnley reclaimed their home form in a 2-1 win over struggling West Ham United. The Clarets wore their wonderful home kits while the Hammers came dressed in their navy change kits.

Three own-goals and a fine game by Wayne Rooney sealed the fate of Portsmouth at Old Trafford against Manchester United. The home side were of course in their red, white and black kits with Pompey traveling north in their fine white and blue change kits.

Bolton Wanderers and Fulham played to a nil-nil draw at the Reebok on Saturday. Bolton were in their home kits, forcing the Cottagers into their change version.

Saturday’s biggest surprise came when Hull City knocked off Manchester City, 2-1 at the KC Stadium. Hull donned their standard home kits while City were losers in their usual threads.

Sunderland scored a late equalizer to earn a 1-1 home draw to Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats wore their home kits. Unfortunately Wigan chose to wear their dreadful orange change kits instead of their normal blues and whites.

Stoke City got a nice 3-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke wore their regular kits while Rovers chose last season’s change kits.

Saturday’s late game saw a scoreless draw at White Hart Lane between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Spurs were the home side and dressed accordingly. Villa also wore their standard kits.

Sunday saw Birmingham City steal two late goals and three points from Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2-1 at St. Andrews. Brum wore their regular blue and white kits which gave Wolves the chance to wear their usual orange and blacks.

And the biggest game of the weekend ended up as a dud with Chelsea beating up on Arsenal, 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. As the home side, Chelsea wore their usual kits. Arsenal made one change by wearing their red, alternate socks to contrast with the white socks worn by the Blues.

Chelsea Throttle Arsenal to Go Back Atop the Table

Didier Drobga (pictured) did the heavy lifting today as Chelsea blasted Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. The Blues got both of their goals in the first half-hour from their recently-returned Ivorian striker. Arsenal were simply unable to contend with the power and strength of Chelsea, losing their second consecutive match to the top two clubs. With the three points Chelsea move back to the top of the table with a two-point advantage over Manchester United. Arsenal remain in third, but having dropped three points each to Chelsea and United, the Gunners are now likely out of the title race.

Birmingham Steal One from Wolves

Kevin Phillips (pictured) scored twice in the final ten minutes to bring Birmingham City back from a 1-0 deficit and earn a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at St. Andrews. Kevin Doyle had given the visitors a surprising lead just before half-time, giving Wolves hope of a rare victory. But Phillips stole the result back for Brum and gave the home side three points for the first time since December 28. The Blues are still in eighth place but now just four points behind Aston Villa and Manchester City for seventh and sixth. Wolves really could’ve used those three points, or even one, but instead stay stuck in nineteenth place.

Scoreless Draw at White Hart Lane

In a battle of two of the top seven clubs in the Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa came out with a nil-nil draw at White Hart Lane. Both sides will rue the opportunity to pick up points on the other. Spurs were unable to reclaim fourth place and currently sit fifth. One point brought Villa even on points with Manchester City but they remain in seventh place, having played an extra game.

Hull Shock Man City

Goals from Jozy Altidore (pictured) and George Boatang gave Hull City just enough to defeat suddenly slumping Manchester City at the KC Stadium, 2-1. The goal was the first in the Premier League for Altidore. Emmanuel Adebayor scored again for City but it was not enough to give the visitors even shared points. City go to sixth place while Hull move all the way up to fourteenth after spending several weeks toiling in the drop zone.

At Old Trafford, Manchester United got goals from Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov in a 5-0 rout of Portsmouth. Three own-goals from Pompey gave United the ridiculous score line at home against the worst club in England. The three points send United back to the top of the table pending the results of tomorrow’s big Chelsea-Arsenal match. Pompey are now six points short of even nineteenth place in a season that looks all but lost.

David Nugent and new signing Danny Fox scored goals for Burnley in an important 2-1 home victory over West Ham United at Turf Moor. Fox’s free kick in the 54th minute pushed the Clarets up to fifteenth place from their spot in the relegation zone. West Ham did get a goal from new boy Ilan, but coming in the 80th minute it was too little too late. The Hammers sink into eighteenth place.

Stoke City thrashed Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium 3-0. Danny Higginbotham, Mama Sidibé and Matthew Etherington each scored for the Potters in the rout that sends the home side past Rovers and into eleventh place. Blackburn are still in good shape in twelfth, but will not be happy with such a miserable result.

Kenwyne Jones’ 63rd minute goal gave Sunderland a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light. Mohamed Diamé had given the Latics a wonderful opening goal but it could not stand as the home side equalized through Jones and kept either side from more than a single point. Both sides inch slightly away from the drop zone with the Black Cats now in thirteenth and Wigan going to sixteenth.

The last early game on Saturday saw Bolton and Fulham play to a nil-nil draw at the Reebok. Bolton’s point keeps them just out of the drop zone in seventeenth place while Fulham remain just ahead of Stoke City for tenth.

Can’t Count Them Out – Liverpool Win Again

Despite playing a man down for the final hour, Liverpool scored the game’s only goal in the second half to win in the Merseyside derby, 1-0 over Everton at Anfield Road. Sotirios Kyrgiakos was sent off for his horrible tackle on Marouane Fellaini but the Toffees could not do anything with the advantage. Instead, Steven Gerrard’s corner was headed in by Dirk Kuyt (pictured) on 55 minutes to provide the home side with three points and a spot back in the top four, at least for now. Everton stay in ninth place, admirable considering their poor start, but a serious blow to their chances of catching up with the European-qualified clubs ahead.

Premier League Round 25 – Tom’s Picks

Saturday:
Bolton 1 – Fulham 0
After successive defeats to Arsenal in his first two games Bolton boss Owen Coyle was relived to get back to winning ways against Burnley last week. Fulham are impressive at home but weaker away, they are also in the midst of an injury crisis so I think they will lose this one.

Burnley 2 – West Ham 2
A true relegation six-pointer with West Ham in 14th just a point ahead of 19th placed Burnley. New Clarets boss Brian Laws will be keen to get his sides’ impressive home form going again but with West Ham flush with strikers after a busy deadline day, I think both managers will have to settle for a point.

Hull City 0 – Manchester City 2
A battling performance in midweek earned the Tigers a creditable draw with Chelsea and they will have to raise their game once more for the visit of Man City. Patrick Vieira could make his City debut as they look to put the Wayne Bridge/John Terry saga to one side and concentrate on their race for a Champions League spot. City will come away with the points.

Liverpool 1 – Everton 1
Passion, drama and tension will be guaranteed when these two old rivals collide. Everton haven’t lost in the league since they were beaten 0-2 by Liverpool in November. The Reds have also picked up in form, climbing to within a point of 4th placed Spurs. I think both sides will settle for a well earned point in this one.

Manchester United 3 – Portsmouth 0
A fourth owner this season, crippling debts and a winding up order scheduled for next week – things just get worse and worse for Portsmouth. On the field matters aren’t much better as they remain rooted to the foot of the table. With Wayne Rooney in the form of his career, I can only see one winner in this one.

Stoke City 2 – Blackburn 1
It’s 11th v 12th at the Britannia as two hard working mid-table sides clash. Both teams should have enough to steer clear of any relegation trouble but with the Potters unbeaten this year, I think they will have enough to take the points.

Sunderland 1 – Wigan 1
After contributing to a candidate for worst match of the season on Monday, Sunderland will look to arrest their slide down the league against Roberto Martinez’s Wigan. The Latics have something to prove themselves after crashing out of the FA Cup to League Two Notts County in midweek and with new striker Victor Moses on board, I think they will grab a point.

Tottenham 1 – Aston Villa 1
This is a massive clash in the race for a spot in the Premier League top four. Jermaine Defoe looked in sparkling form in midweek in their win over Leeds while Villa haven’t lost in any competition since Fernando Torres’ last minute winner for Liverpool just after Christmas. These two sides drew the last time they met in November and I think they will do the same this time.

Sunday:
Birmingham City 2 – Wolverhampton 0
There have been contrasting fortunes for these two local rivals since the last time they met in November. Since then Birmingham embarked on a record breaking unbeaten run to climb into the top ten while Wolves tumbled into the relegation zone. Wolves boss Mick McCarthy spoke of his frustration at not strengthening his squad in the transfer window and I agree the side lacks depth. I think things will go from bad to worse for McCarthy on Sunday.

Chelsea 2 – Arsenal 1
After heavy defeats against Chelsea and Man United, Arsenal will be desperate to get a result against one of their Premier League title rivals this time round. Chelsea will hope the John Terry saga will not affect performances on the field, especially after they were held to a draw by Hull in midweek. That game did mark the return of Didier Drogba though and I think he will be the difference again on Sunday.

Newest Second Division Club Introduced in Minnesota

Not much of a story here, only the name and logo announcement from the NASL’s newest club. NSC Minnesota Stars is the name and their logo is above. NSC represents the National Sports Center, the 600-acre complex in suburban Minneapolis where the new club will play its home games. The club chose the top two vote-getters in the fan poll and combined them to create the new club name. No word yet on a manager or players, according to the live revelation, those will begin to be announced next week.