Discuss: Liverpool /Chelsea / Man U & Arsenal matches here
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Watford v Liverpool
Ch 23 - 8:45 pm - (Live)
Watford captain Gavin Mahon returns after missing the FA Cup win over Stockport and Tamas Priskin is available after suspension.
Lee Williamson and Will Hoskins could make their debuts but defender Dan Shittu (ankle) remains a doubt.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez recalls his big names although he is without Luis Garcia (knee) for the season.
Mark Gonzalez and Steven Warnock have joined Mohamed Sissoko, Bolo Zenden and Harry Kewell on the injury list.
WATFORD are rock bottom of the Premiership table, 10 points from safety, as they prepare to face a shell-shocked Liverpool in the Saturday lunchtime fixture at Vicarage Road. Aidy Boothroyd's struggling side have picked up just three points out of 27 since their only win of this League season, home to Middlesbrough on 4 November.
Ashley YOUNG is Watford's top scorer with four goals.
Young and Hameur BOUAZZA are the club's top Premiership scorers with three each.
Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd:
"One of the problems for promoted teams is the speed Premiership teams go on the attack. "When we came up, we played a style we felt would limit chances opposition would have to counter-attack us. "We are playing better football than at the start of the season, but it will take time to play how I want to play."
LIVERPOOL are smarting from a nightmare week at Anfield which has seen consecutive defeats to Arsenal in the FA Cup and Carling Cup - the latter by six goals to three, the first time since 1930 the Reds had shipped six goals in a home fixture.
Peter CROUCH is Liverpool's top scorer with 10 goals.
Dirk KUYT is the club's leading scorer in the Premiership with seven.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez:
"I hope the result (the 6-3 loss against Arsenal in the Carling Cup) will galvanise everyone at the club and be firmly focused on what is ahead."We can analyse what has happened in these last two games and use that to our benefit in the future."
Watford : Foster, Lee, Mariappa, Mackay, DeMerit, Stewart, Shittu, Powell, Doyley, Smith, Francis, Bangura, McNamee, Mahon, Williamson, Spring, Jarrett, Henderson, Ashikodi, Young, Priskin, Hoskins.
Liverpool : Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Aurelio, Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Bellamy, Crouch, Kuyt, Fowler, Dudek, Guthrie, Paletta.
REFEREE
Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Liverpool 2-0 Watford
23 December 2006 - Ref: Phil Dowd
Liverpool scorers: Bellamy 47, Alonso 88
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at Watford only
League: Watford 2 wins, Liverpool 4, Draws 1
Prem: Watford 0 wins, Liverpool 1, Draws 0 -
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Chelsea v Wigan
Ch 23 - 11:00 pm - (Live)
Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho return from suspension while Arjen Robben and Carlo Cudicini are hoping to shake off injuries.
Ashley Cole is suspended while John Terry, Petr Cech and Khalid Boulahrouz are out injured.
Ryan Taylor is a shock inclusion in Wigan's squad after a year out with a broken foot and then a broken leg.
Arjan de Zeeuw, Andreas Granqvist, Antonio Valencia, Henri Camara and Paul Scharner are all out.
CHELSEA resume the race against Manchester United to clinch the Premiership title in what's rumoured to be Jose Mourinho's last season in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Didier DROGBA is the highest scoring Premiership player this season with 20 goals, 13 of which are League goals, putting him one clear of Manchester United's Cristiano RONALDO at the top of the table for the Barclays Golden Boot award.
Only Michael ESSIEN has figured in every minute of Chelsea's Premiership matches this season.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho:
"I love Chelsea. I always want to win the next game.
"We have to be together to win that game (against Wigan) and forget the stories and what the press are saying.
"Wigan won't come to win. They will come to try to stop us so we will have to be on our toes and be very sharp."
WIGAN ATHLETIC are in freefall and on their worst run under Paul Jewell. Since winning at West Ham on 6 December, the Latics have drawn at Middlesbrough, lost five Premiership games on the spin and the FA Cup trip to Portsmouth.
Henri CAMARA is Wigan's top scorer with six goals, all scored in the Premiership.
Emile HESKEY needs two more goals to total 100 in English League football (Leicester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Wigan).
Wigan boss Paul Jewell:
"Hopefully we're just a result away from turning things around.
"We've been conceding late goals, or goals at crucial times, and these things play on players' minds. "We've been working on it in training, trying to find the reasons why - we've all the answers on the training pitch."
Chelsea : Hilario, Hedman, Cudicini, Ferreira, Geremi, Bridge, Carvalho, Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Makelele, Diarra, Obi, Drogba, Shevchenko, Robben, Wright-Phillips, Kalou.
Wigan : Kirkland, Jackson, Hall, Kilbane, Cywka, Johansson, Landzaat, Heskey, Boyce, Cotterill, Baines, McCulloch, Taylor, Skoko, Haestad, Unsworth, Filan.
REFEREE
Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire)
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Wigan Athletic 2-3 Chelsea
23 December 2006 - Ref: Mike Dean
Wigan scorers: Heskey 45, 75
Chelsea scorers: Lampard 13, Kalou 31, Robben 90
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at Chelsea only
League: Chelsea 1 win, Wigan 0, Draws 0
Prem: Chelsea 1 win, Wigan 0, Draws 0 -
No Luis Garcia,see liao also sian.
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Man Utd v Aston Villa
Ch 24 - 11:00 pm - (Live)
Manchester United trio Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic and Paul Scholes are in line to return after sitting out the FA Cup win over Villa. Henrik Larsson is pushing to retain his place but United have confirmed Louis Saha is fit to return after a groin injury, but such was the nature of Larsson's bow that the Frenchman may have to settle for a place on the bench. Solskjaer is another attacking option for Sir Alex Ferguson to consider as his side look to maintain, or even increase, their six-point lead over Chelsea.
Gabor Kiraly was expected to return to the scene of last week's nightmare for what was due to be the last game of his loan spell from Crystal Palace. But, after Sorensen and Taylor returned to training, Martin O'Neill has allowed the Hungarian to go back to Palace a game earlier than anticipated. O'Neill will make a late decision on whether Sorensen or Taylor will start in the Premiership fixture.
The Villa boss is likely to be pressed into making at least one other change from the side which lost in the cup as Stilian Petrov is set to miss out. The midfielder has been struggling with a hamstring injury in recent games and it is expected to rule him out on Saturday. Steven Davis could be restored to the starting line-up. Olof Mellberg is available again after suspension and will come back into the defence, but on-loan Phil Bardsley is not eligible to face his parent club.
Milan Baros, impressed in scoring as a substitute last week could dislodge Juan Pablo Angel from the starting line-up, while Chris Sutton is still out.
This will be the third time the two teams have met in three weeks, with United having won 3-0 at Villa in the Premiership prior to Christmas before last week's cup tie.
MANCHESTER UNITED and Aston Villa meet for the second time in a week, and the third time this season. Last Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came off the bench and, in characteristic fashion, scored the crucial stoppage time goal that propelled United into the fourth round of the FA Cup, just as Aston Villa fans were pencilling a replay into their diaries.
Now it's back to League business, with the Red Devils chasing an 18th Premiership victory of the season, to - at the least - maintain their six point lead over Chelsea at the top of the table, and possibly increase it to either seven or nine.
Cristiano RONALDO and Louis SAHA are United's joint top scorers with 12 goals apiece.
All 12 of Ronaldo's goals were scored in the Premiership - making him the club's leading marksman in the League. He trails Chelsea's Didier Drogba by one in the race for the Barclays Golden Boot.
ASTON VILLA are next-to-bottom on the Premiership's form table, and are on the longest current winless run in the highest League. They've not won in 10, since the 0-1 win at Everton on 11 November.
Martin O'Neill's side have drawn half of their Premiership matches (11 of 22), and have slipped from third to 13th in less than two months. Another defeat here could see them four places outside the relegation zone.
Villa have not beaten United in the Premiership since winning 3-1 at Villa Park on 19 August 1995. They've not taken maximum points away from Old Trafford since a 1-2 victory on 5 November 1983 when Peter Withe scored both their goals.
Gareth BARRY is Villa's leading scorer with nine goals - eight of which are Premiership goals.
Man Utd : Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, Heinze, Ronaldo, Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, O'Shea, Richardson, Saha, Giggs, Rooney, Solskjaer, Larsson.
Aston Villa : Thomas Sorensen, Mellberg, Hughes, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma, Agbonlahor, McCann, Davis, Osbourne, Barry, Angel, Baros, Samuel, Hendrie, Berger, Stuart Taylor.
REFEREE
Howard Webb (Yorkshire)
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Aston Villa 0-3 Manchester United
23 December 2006 - Ref: Steve Bennett
Man United scorers: Ronaldo 58, Scholes 64, Ronaldo 85
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at Man United only
League: Man United 47 wins, Villa 10, Draws 16
Prem: Man United 10 wins, Villa 0, Draws 4 -
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Blackburn v Arsenal
Ch 24 - 1:15 am - (Live)
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes will restore Benni McCarthy, Robbie Savage and Brett Emerton to his starting XI, while Shabani Nonda (groin) is fit.
Lucas Neill returns from a ban just as David Bentley starts one.
Emmanuel Adebayor is in the Arsenal squad after a thigh injury while fellow striker Julio Baptista is also pressing for a start after his goals in midweek.
Abou Diaby is playing again following his broken ankle, however Lauren and Emmanuel Eboue will not be considered.
BLACKBURN ROVERS host Arsenal in the Saturday tea time fixture, chasing a fifth successive win in League and Cup, and fourth in a row in the Premiership. They've certainly bounced back well from the trip to the Emirates Stadium on the Saturday before Christmas, when the Gunners ran out 6-2 winners.
Benni McCARTHY is Blackburn's leading scorer with 13 goals - nine in the Premiership. He has netted five in five League and Cup appearances.
Blackburn boss Mark Hughes: "Arsenal are in fantastic form and they are a fantastic side whoever they pick. "But we had a great result against them last season (they won 1-0) and I think they have a healthy respect for us."
ARSENAL have won their last three League and Cup games, scoring 13 goals and conceding four in the process. The two Cup victories over Liverpool were preceded by a 4-0 home win over Charlton. If previous performances are anything to go by, the main goalscoring action should take place in the last quarter-hour of this Premiership match. Arsenal are the only club whose goalscoring record this season is in double figures in that period (12 of 41), whereas only Charlton have conceded more goals than Blackburn's nine in the last 15 minutes.
Robin VAN PERSIE is Arsenal's top scorer with 12 goals - 10 in the Premiership.
The Dutchman has scored six goals in his last four League and Cup appearances against Blackburn.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on their 6-2 win over Blackburn earlier in the season: "We were flattered by that score. They have improved alot since then. This will be more difficult for us. "I have five strikers available and I can only play two, or maybe only one."
Blackburn : Friedel, Brown, Neill, Todd, Ooijer, Gray, Emerton, Savage, Tugay, Pedersen, Nonda, McCarthy, Brown, Derbyshire, Mokoena, Henchoz, Peter, Khizanishvili.
Arsenal : Lehmann, Hoyte, Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, van Persie, Henry, Almunia, Djourou, Adebayor, Baptista, Walcott, Aliadiere, Flamini.
REFEREE
Chris Foy (St Helens, Merseyside)
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Arsenal 6-2 Blackburn Rovers
23 December 2006 - Ref: Howard Webb
Arsenal scorers: Silva 10, Hleb 23, Adebayor 27 pen, Van Persie 85, 88, Flamini 90
Blackburn scorers: Nonda 3 pen, 69
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at Blackburn only
League: Blackburn 16 wins, Arsenal 18, Draws 14
Prem: Blackburn 4 wins, Arsenal 6, Draws 2 -
Wat happened to Harry Kewell?Originally posted by Patrik:No Luis Garcia,see liao also sian. 
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For the latest English Premier League Reported Injuries, Please visit:Originally posted by Bontakun:Wat happened to Harry Kewell?
http://www.physioroom.com -
Woah... no wonder no see him for such a long time.Originally posted by zocoss:
Well.. I think Liverpool can try 4-3-3 formation. -
Originally posted by Bontakun:Wat happened to Harry Kewell?
Harry Kewell and Luis Garcia are my fav players at Liverpool.
Now both injured.
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How about Gerrard?Originally posted by Patrik:
Harry Kewell and Luis Garcia are my fav players at Liverpool.
Now both injured.
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I thought Gerrard would have been all pool's fans fav player.
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think pool will deploy aurelio since our three left siders are injured
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36' Watford 0 - 0 Liverpool
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Before Luis Garcia and Harry Kewell,my fav Liverpool player was Patrik Berger.Originally posted by zocoss:How about Gerrard?
I thought Gerrard would have been all pool's fans fav player. 
So now u roughly can guess what kind of players i fancy?
Players with creativity,flair,unpredictable.And left footed. -
watford 0-2 pool
bellamy and crouch. is the 433 working finally -
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Watford 0 - 3 Liverpool
Full-Time:
34' 0 - 1 C Bellamy
40' 0 - 2 P Crouch
48' 0 - 3 P Crouch -
Manchester United 2 - 0 Aston Villa
15 mins
11 mins : Park
13 mins : Carrick scored! (his first goal for man u) -
Chelsea 1 - 0 Wigan
13' F Lampard
West Ham 0 - 1 Fulham
16' Radzinski -
Sheff Utd 1 - 0 Portsmouth
22' S Quinn -
West Ham 1 - 1 Fulham
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Manchester United 3 - 0 Aston Villa
36 mins:
11 mins : Park
13 mins : Carrick
35 mins : Ronaldo -
Half-Time:
West Ham 1 - 1 Fulham
Sheff Utd 1 - 0 Portsmouth
Man Utd 3 - 0 Aston Villa
Charlton 1 - 0 Middlesbrough
Chelsea 1 - 0 Wigan
Bolton 0 - 0 Man City
Full-Time:
Watford 0 - 3 Liverpool -
Full-Time:
West Ham 3 - 3 Fulham
Sheff Utd 1 - 1 Portsmouth
Man Utd 3 - 0 Aston Villa
Charlton 1 - 3 Middlesbrough
Chelsea 4 - 0 Wigan
Bolton 0 - 0 Man City
Watford 0 - 3 Liverpool -
Arsenal PWN Blackburn for sure. Score prediction 3-0.
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Blackburn v Arsenal
12 mins:
Gilberto sent-off ! -
wtf?! damn stupid! right infront of the ref. savage wasnt that guilty either