EPL: Man Utd v Chelsea: Preview

Manchester United - Chelsea

Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced Manchester United have a 'big, big chance' of glory this season if Louis Saha can stay fit.

Although he has added the varied attacking talents of Carlos Tevez, Anderson and Nani to a squad which already contains Wayne Rooney and was the most prolific in the Premier League last term, Ferguson knows Saha offers something different.

Quick, strong, excellent in the air and blessed with shooting power in both feet, Saha's only major weakness is his appearance record.

Barely a month has gone by without the France international picking up one physical problem or another, hence the reason why Ferguson is showing such patience with the 29-year-old this season.

Saha has already scored an all-important winner against Sunderland and his introduction as a substitute at Goodison Park last weekend was a major factor in United sneaking a victory over Everton.

He then helped see the Red Devils home for a crucial Champions League triumph over Sporting Lisbon in midweek.

So, while the former Fulham man is likely to start on the bench tomorrow when United look to turn a difficult week into a disaster for Chelsea following the departure of Jose Mourinho, Ferguson confirmed Saha is a hugely influential figure at Old Trafford.

'Louis is a different type of player to anyone else I have at the club,' he said.

'If you look at last season, he had already scored 12 goals up to the point where he got his injury in December. If he had stayed fit, he might have got us 30.

'He has already come on against Sunderland and scored an important goal for us and changed it for us against Sporting on Wednesday at a point when Wayne was starting to tire.

'If Louis stays fit, we have a big, big chance this year.'

With Gary Neville still over a week away from a return from calf and thigh trouble and Owen Hargreaves not quite close enough to be considered as he inches towards a recovery from a thigh injury picked up on England duty, Ferguson will rely on the squad which collected maximum points from their trip to Portugal.

The Scot's major selection issue centres around a possible recall for Tevez, possibly in place of Nani.

Meanwhile, Avram Grant is confident of earning the respect of the dressing room and keeping Chelsea in the hunt for the Premier League title following the departure of Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho had total authority over his squad at Stamford Bridge during a trophy-laden three years and there have been reports of player unrest during a turbulent week.

Grant, despite a successful spell as Israel coach, does not have the same Champions League credentials as the `Special One' but feels he has the squad to add to Chelsea's silverware haul since Roman Abramovich took over.

Grant and Abramovich are friends but the club have insisted his arrival as director of football in the summer has had nothing to do with Mourinho's departure.

'If I thought I cannot make it I would not take the job,' said 52-year-old Grant.

'I took it because I think I can handle the situation, including in the dressing room.

'I can make things better, I must say they were good already, but I want to make things better.

'I am very satisfied with the squad we have. It is a good squad that can play good football and win titles.'

Grant explained that his arrival and swift appointment following Mourinho's departure does not mean he had a hand in the Portuguese coach leaving.

'I was director of football, my relationship with Jose was good,' he added. 'I did my job, he did his job.'

Grant could not ask for a tougher start, taking his team up to Manchester United tomorrow, the third Chelsea boss in a row to start his reign against Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

He did not take training the day before the match either as it was Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday.

Source: Soccernet.com

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EPL Result: Fulham 3-3 Man City: Thriller at the Cottage

	Fulham 3 - 3 Manchester City 13' Simon Davies 1 - 0 36' 1 - 1 Martin Petrov 48' Hameur Bouazza 2 - 1 50' 2 - 2 Emile Mpenza 60' 2 - 3 Martin Petrov 75' Danny Murphy 3 - 3
3		3

Fighting Fulham came back to snatch a 3-3 draw in yet another Craven Cottage six-goal thriller which left Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson fuming about his team's defensive lapses.

The last time Eriksson tangled with Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez was two years ago when the Swede was England boss and his rival was manager of Northern Ireland, for whom he engineered a shock 1-0 victory in Belfast.

David Healy was one of four Fulham players in that Irish line-up, but he was not on target against City, whose winning chance finally disappeared with debut-making substitute Danny Murphy's 74th-minute equaliser for the hosts.

Fulham had twice led but then slipped 3-2 behind after the second of two goals by Martin Petrov.

The Bulgarian benefited from slipshod goalkeeping by Antti Niemi and also the generosity of referee Mark Halsey, who allowed Brazilian Elano to get away with a blatant foul before setting up the goal that Petrov hoped would be the winner.

However, he reckoned without a complete lack of concentration from City defender Vedran Corluka which allowed Murphy to pounce on a low cross from the left to save a point for the home side.

Three weeks ago Fulham came back from 3-1 down to draw with Tottenham - from whom they had just bought Murphy.

It was Healy and the lively Hameur Bouazza who gave the home side the early impetus.

Richard Dunne, the City captain returning after suspension, made a superb tackle to deny Healy an early strike but let Simon Davies escape him at the near post to head in Bouazza's left-wing cross in the 13th minute.

City replied when Michael Johnson spread the ball out to the left and Petrov cut in past Chris Baird's tame challenge to fire a low shot which Niemi could only help into the net.

Two minutes after the break Fulham led again when Dunne tripped substitute Diomansy Kamara and Bouazza fired the free-kick through City's dishevelled defensive wall.

That lead lasted only a minute, as Niemi could only palm out Petrov's shot for Emile Mpenza to notch an easy header from the rebound.

Petrov seemed to have won it 11 minutes later after Elano was allowed to go through and feed him for a shot that went in between Niemi and his near post.

Fulham looked to be the victims of injustice, but then along came Murphy, who had been part of a double substitution in the 65th minute, to take advantage of Corluka nodding off and rifle home a point-saver.

The same player almost won the contest for Fulham with a long-range deflected free-kick which Kasper Schmeichel clawed away from under the bar.

In a frantic finish City substitute Geovanni was only inches too high with a stoppage-time snapshot which almost brought the visitors a winner.

But the point was enough to move them back up the table into second, while Fulham are fourth from bottom - two points clear of the relegation zone.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Result: Reading 2-1 Wigan

	Reading 2 - 1 Wigan 29' Dave Kitson 1 - 0 50' 1 - 1 Marcus Bent 90' James Harper 2 - 1
2		1

A rare goal from midfielder James Harper a minute from time gave Reading a 2-1 victory over Wigan in the Barclays Premier League.


Empics
Reading's Dave Kitson takes advantage of an error from Wigan 'keeper Chris Kirkland.

Marcus Bent's first Wigan goal five minutes into the second period had cancelled out Dave Kitson's first-half opener, but the Reading striker had the last word by setting up his team-mate for the winner with the best pass of the day.

Wigan left the Madejski Stadium with a sour taste in their mouths, however, after referee Keith Stroud awarded them a penalty before changing his mind in the first half.

• Coppell relieved with vital win

The Latics also had late chances to have gone ahead before Harper's goal, which ended Reading's run of three successive defeats.

Royals striker Kevin Doyle had been left out at Sunderland last week. His exertions for the Republic of Ireland had been part of the reason, but his failure to hit the net for his club in the previous five games was also a factor.

Nevertheless, he was preferred to Leroy Lita for this one and immediately began to prove a point.

A solo run in the eighth minute, which had seen Andreas Granqvist beaten, led to a wasteful shot from an angle, but his flick-on of Ivar Ingimarsson's clearing header was just perfect to send Liam Rosenior racing clear in the 17th.

The former Fulham man, swapped for Seol Ki-Hyeon on deadline day and making his home debut, is not noted for his finishing, however, and failed to beat Chris Kirkland with the resulting shot.

Reading were galvanised, though, and Granqvist needed his height to prevent Kitson from flicking on Nicky Shorey's corner delivery into the net and the home side's breakthrough duly arrived just before the half hour.

Kitson was the scorer but needed a huge slice of incompetence from Kirkland to net his second goal in as many games.

Doyle had seen his initial shot blocked by the bulk of Titus Bramble but quickly regained possession of the rebound and, having turned Josip Skoko to line up a second attempt, saw Kirkland fumble it at his near post right into Kitson's path. The striker needed to be quick but had no difficulty in slotting home from all of four yards.

Controversy then arrived in the shape of Wigan's instant response when Jason Koumas tumbled into the box, having been tripped by Ingimarsson.

Referee Stroud lost little time in awarding a penalty but, after Reading protested, then consulted a linesman and downgraded it to a free-kick just outside the box - a decision television replays seemed to indicate had been the right one.

Wigan also wanted Ingimarsson sent off, but the Iceland international was shown only a yellow and Koumas then saw his free-kick beat the wall and goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, only to bounce down to safety off the American.

Tempers remained frayed, with Michael Brown booked for hacking down Kitson and Rosenior shown a yellow card in stoppage time for impeding Koumas, who saw Hahnemann save his 25-yard free-kick.

Wigan equalised five minutes into the second half through Bent, who had been quiet up to then.

The on-loan Charlton man, who had replaced the injured Emile Heskey against Fulham last week and was making his first start, had been disappointed to see Ingimarsson get in the way of Paul Sharner's attempt to set him up in front of goal.

But he made no mistake from the corner that followed by getting in between Kitson and Michael Duberry to power a header from Koumas's delivery past Hahnemann from six yards.

It was not long before Bent had another go as Wigan took a grip on the game, but this time Hahnemann was able to parry and Ingimarsson hoofed away the loose ball.

Reading swapped Rosenior for Bobby Convey just after the hour mark and Stephen Hunt glanced a header from Doyle's cross just wide of the far post.

Convey was looking the man most likely to fashion a breakthrough for the home side and one pacy, low delivery from the right only just eluded Doyle and then Kitson in the box.

Wigan almost snatched victory with five minutes remaining, however, when substitute Julius Aghahowa, who had replaced the anonymous Antoine Sibierski, put Bent away, only for Duberry to time his tackle in the box to perfection.

Hahnemann was fortunate not to concede a penalty when Wigan caught Reading on the counter-attack, but Aghahowa opted to try to carry on instead of going down and was intercepted by Ingimarsson.

That allowed Reading to strike their decisive blow when Kitson carried the ball forward on the edge of the box before slotting a pass through to Harper, who beat Kirkland at his near post to seal a victory that had seemed unlikely.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Result: Middlesbrough 2-2 Sunderland: Miller rescues a point

	Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Sunderland 2' 0 - 1 Grant Leadbitter 15' Julio Arca 1 - 1 67' Stewart Downing 2 - 1 89' 2 - 2 Liam Miller
2		2

Liam Miller came off the bench to hand Sunderland a hard-fought 2-2 derby draw with a last-minute strike in a fiercely-contested encounter at Middlesbrough.

The former Celtic midfielder smashed a left-foot volley past Mark Schwarzer to deny Gareth Southgate's men a victory they thought was in the bag after local boy Stewart Downing had dispatched a 67th-minute thunderbolt past Craig Gordon.

Black Cats boss Roy Keane, celebrating 50 games in charge at the Stadium of Light, saw his side get off to the perfect start when Grant Leadbitter capitalised on an error by former Black Cat Julio Arca to start and finish an attack which produced the game's opening goal with less than two minutes gone.

Boro were back on level terms when Arca made amends with a 14th-minute header to drag his side back into it and Downing's goal should have been enough to win it.

But as chances went begging, with the impressive Gary O'Neil, making his first start for the club, unable to take any of a series of opportunities which came his way, the home side were made to pay in front of a crowd of 30,675.

Derby days have proved eventful for Arca in recent years - he scored for Sunderland at Boro two seasons ago and unwittingly ended the career of Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer in a 4-1 home defeat for the Black Cats during the same campaign, while his strike against the Magpies last month clinched a 2-2 draw on Teesside.

However, what transpired at the Riverside Stadium was out of the ordinary even by his standards.

The 26-year-old Argentinian was barely into his stride when he gifted the ball to Leadbitter on halfway and looked on in horror as the Wearsiders made the most of the opportunity.

Leadbitter raced away before picking out Michael Chopra on the left, and then benefited from a slice of good fortune when the striker's shot hit him and fell perfectly for him to drive a left-foot effort past the stranded Schwarzer.

There were just 75 seconds on the clock when the ball hit the back of the net, but Boro's response was immediate as Arca atoned for his error within 12 minutes.

Home debutant O'Neil, a £5million deadline day signing from Portsmouth, sent in a teasing right-wing cross which the South American met with perfect timing at the far post to thump a downward header into the net despite the best efforts of Craig Gordon.

A pulsating encounter maintained its pace for much of an intense 45 minutes which fully tested Southgate's resources.

Striker Tuncay Sanli, who replaced the injured Jeremie Aliadiere in the starting line-up, limped off with just 10 minutes gone and was followed within 15 minutes by the unfortunate Arca, who was carried off with what looked like a serious knee injury.

With Dong-Gook Lee and George Boateng having already joined the fray, Lee Cattermole was stripped and ready to come on with five minutes of the first half still to play with Mido clutching his hamstring, but the Egyptian declined to leave the field.

In the meantime, O'Neil had tested Gordon with a smartly-struck shot from distance and should have done better on 37 minutes when he blasted a volley high over after Downing's effort had been deflected to him.

However, he and his team-mates left the field at the break still wondering how Danny Higginbotham had escaped without conceding a penalty when Luke Young's ball into the box had hit his hand.

Boro started the second half the brighter and went agonisingly close to taking the lead on 50 minutes when Lee accepted Mido's knockdown and curled a right-foot shot inches wide of the far post with Gordon beaten.

The visitors rallied and after seeing Jonathan Woodgate survive a penalty shout for handball, Ross Wallace blasted a cross the face of goal from Leadbitter's 55th-minute cross.

But they fell behind with 23 minutes remaining when Downing took aim from 25 yards and blasted a stunning right-foot shot past Gordon, who was undone by the swerve the England midfielder imparted on the ball.

The visitors tried desperately to work their way back into the game, although Leadbitter and Greg Halford both went well wide from distance as their challenge looked to have petered out.

Indeed, both O'Neil and Fabio Rochemback could have added to Keane's woes as time ran down.

But Miller had not given up hope and he muscled his way into the box a minute from time to hammered a left-foot drive past Schwarzer.

Cattermole fired inches wide in injury time, but two points had slipped away.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Result: Liverpool 0-0 Birmingham

	Liverpool 0 - 0 Birmingham
0		0

The voices of Birmingham's delighted fans boomed around Anfield at the end of this bitterly frustrating goalless draw for Liverpool.

They may be still unbeaten and boss Rafael Benitez was able to utilise £40million plus of striking talent, but nobody had the ability to prise open the massed blue ranks.

Birmingham unashamedly strung 10 men across their own penalty area at times and fought like lions for a point.

The Midlanders were clearly not going to be letting themselves suffer a six-goal thrashing like Derby did recently, and set out to suffocate the life from Liverpool's game. Steve Bruce's side more than achieved their aim - and fully deserved the point.

Liam Ridgewell and Johan Djourou were outstanding at the back and Benitez has still to register a league win over Bruce's men after five attempts.

Benitez restricted himself to just two changes - he has been averaging five a match so far this term - from the team which drew their Champions League game in Porto in midweek.

Fit-again John Arne Riise returned in defence with Andriy Voronin coming in up front as Liverpool attempted to maintain their unbeaten record this term.

Birmingham arrived with a suffocating gameplan, and set about frustrating Liverpool from the start.

Liverpool might have put six goals past Derby last time out in the league at Anfield, but Birmingham looked a totally different proposition. They strung five across a deep midfield and worked to deny Liverpool space to run into.

Ryan Babel combined to play Riise in on the left, and his fierce low cross was too far ahead of Voronin.

Babel then cut in from the left and found Dirk Kuyt - but the striker was forced into a hurried shot wide.

Birmingham's system, though, was disrupted on 16 minutes by what looked a bad injury to Borja Oubina on his full debut for the Midlanders - the loanee from Celta Vigo was carried off and replaced by Gary McSheffrey.

Mehdi Nafti moved into the midfield holding role and immediately there was space for Riise to fire a dipping 20-yard effort just over.

Birmingham were regimented and organised, and were forcing Liverpool to make all the decisions.

Chances were rare, with Kuyt heading wide from a Steven Gerrard cross in the 26th minute.

Jermaine Pennant, against his old club, was switched from right to left wing - and Babel moved in the opposite direction, but openings, space and time on the ball remained at a premium.

Birmingham at times had 10 players in their final third - with Cameron Jerome the exception - but Bruce's men were sticking to their plan diligently.

Pennant produced a 25-yard effort which was turned over the bar by Maik Taylor, before Jose Reina made his only contribution to the first half when Wilson Palacios shot from 25 yards.

Liverpool continued to toil after the break and Jamie Carragher saw an 18-yard effort deflected just over.

From Pennant's corner, Gerrard stabbed in a near-post effort which Nafti cleared off the line.

Voronin was next to go close, stumbling as he picked up a through ball, but he was still able to fire in a low shot that Taylor saved well to his left.

Liverpool sent on Fernando Torres for Babel on the hour, before Olivier Kapo forced Reina into a save with a shot from 30 yards.

Liam Ridgewell was then booked in the 62nd minute for obstructing Reina as he tried to kick clear.

Birmingham increasingly fancied their chances and five minutes later they sent on an extra striker in Garry O'Connor for Palacios.

Peter Crouch finally got on after 74 minutes to add some aerial threat, replacing Voronin - and two minutes later Torres produced an overhead kick which flashed inches over from Pennant's corner.

Birmingham were looking now to punish Liverpool on the break and McSheffrey almost achieved that with an 18-yard effort which went just over.

Rafael Schmitz replaced Jerome in the 79th minute, as Liverpool's players began to getting in the way of each other in their desperation for a goal.

Torres' backheel was meant for Gerrard's run - but Crouch collided with his more-than-annoyed captain six yards out.

Steve Finnan replaced the injured Pennant with three minutes left, the winger looking to have picked up a hamstring problem.

Gerrard's corner soon after found Crouch rising unchallenged, but he could only bounce his header into the Kop, summing up Liverpool's day.

Source: Soccernet.com

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Result: Arsenal 5-0 Derby: Hat-trick hero Adebayor

	Arsenal 5 - 0 Derby County 10' Vasiriki Abou Diaby 1 - 0 25' Emmanuel Adebayor 2 - 0 50' Emmanuel Adebayor (pen) 3 - 0 70' Francesc Fabregas 4 - 0 79' Emmanuel Adebayor 5 - 0
5		0

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League after their five-star performance destroyed dire Derby 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

A hat-trick from Emmanuel Adebayor and goals from Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas swept clueless County aside in emphatic style.

The Londoners are clearly not missing the departed Thierry Henry as this latest victory preserved their 100% home record and left them undefeated so far this season.

Arsenal should have taken the lead in the fourth minute of the game after a superb run down the left flank from Gael Clichy.

The left-back's low cross found Adebayor unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, but the tall striker failed to direct his effort on target.

However, the Gunners took the lead in the 10th minute when Diaby side-stepped two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before firing an unstoppable rising drive into the top corner of the net.

He almost repeated the feat moments later, but this time his low drive from a similar position was pushed to safety by Stephen Bywater.

Arsenal's free-flowing football was a joy to watch and Derby were finding it difficult to hold the hosts at bay.

Derby offered little in the way of an attacking threat under Arsenal's domination of the game.

In the 23rd minute Arsenal almost opened up the Rams for a second time when Adebayor got on the end of a long ball from Kolo Toure.

But again the tall striker could not get a firm strike on the ball and it was collected easily by Bywater.

The home side looked dangerous with every attack and the Premier League newcomers struggled to cope with the pace of the game.

Adebayor made it two to Arsenal in the 25th minute when he latched onto a pass from Fabregas and ran clear of the Derby defence. The Arsenal striker then rounded Bywater and slotted the ball home.

Derby, hammered 6-0 by Liverpool earlier this month, were seemingly out of their depth yet again.

Adebayor was a constant threat and in the 35th minute he almost turned provider for Eduardo.

This time his cross was just too far for the Arsenal striker to control and the chance went begging.

Moments later Theo Walcott tried his luck from 20 yards, but his accuracy and power did not match that of team-mate Diaby and the ball went wide of the target by some margin.

Fabregas was controlling the midfield and in the 32nd minute he put Walcott through on goal, but the England youngster fired straight at Bywater, who managed to grab the ball at the second attempt.

Derby's attempts to get back into the game were hampered by their own inability to pass the ball to their own players.

Their sloppy play allowed Arsenal to quickly regain possession and cause County further problems.

In the 44th minute Eduardo's header from a corner by Fabregas was brilliantly saved by Bywater.

The half-time whistle gave the visitors some much-needed relief after a first half dominated by Wenger's team.

Derby's plight worsened four minutes after the re-start when County captain Matt Oakley was punished for pulling back Eduardo inside the penalty area by referee Martin Atkinson.

Adebayor stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake for his second goal of the game.

In the 56th minute a surging run by Toure almost brought him a goal. The Arsenal captain started the move with a clever pass to Fabregas and when the midfielder crossed the ball into the middle, it was headed just wide by the advancing Toure.

Derby had their first real effort of the game on the hour when a shot from centre-forward Steve Howard whistled past the post.

Walcott almost created a goal out of nothing when he beat two Derby players during a mazy run into the penalty area, but his final shot was blocked.

In the 68th minute another fine Arsenal move ended with Adebayor heading over the crossbar after Sagna's cross had found him on the edge of the six-yard box.

With 20 minutes remaining Fabregas scored Arsenal's fourth with a crisp right-foot drive from 20 yards - it was just reward for a tremendous midfield performance.

But the rout was not over and Adebayor made sure of his treble in the 80th minute. The tall striker chested down a long ball and kept his composure before sidefooting home from eight yards to cap a glorious afternoon for Wenger's men.

Source: Soccernet.com

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