Wayne Rooney's welcome return to scoring form in Saturday's 3-0 win over Estonia delighted England coach Steve McClaren, whose men are now just one win away from next year's European Championship finals.
Israeli Avram Grant has been appointed Chelsea's new coach on a permanent basis although he has not yet signed a contract.
Arsenal go into their 10th successive Champions League campaign with burning optimism fuelled by their early season form and manager Arsene Wenger's newly signed long-term commitment to the club.
England head coach Steve McClaren praised Michael Owen's match-winning performance against Russia on Wednesday saying he never doubted he would return to the highest level after his injury nightmare.
Germany captain Michael Ballack, who has not played for Chelsea since April because of an ankle injury, has been left out of the squad for the Champions League group stages.
Liverpool's stay might only last for 24 hours until overnight leaders Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Sunday.
Arsenal will host Newcastle United in the outstanding League Cup third-round tie after the draw was made on Saturday.
David Beckham's new side LA Galaxy have been dismissed as a pub team by English reporters who watched their 3-0 loss to Mexican side Tigres in a friendly.
Bosnian champions Sarajevo crushed Marsaxlokk of Malta 6-0 in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday to set up a likely meeting with Genk of Belgium in the second qualifying round.
Brazil's 1970 World Cup winning team have been voted the best of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine.
The FA Cup final, one of the landmark events in the global sporting year, finally returns home to Wembley Stadium on Saturday after a seven-year absence.
The Portugal winger finished ahead of Didier Drogba of Chelsea and United team mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes in the 60th vote organised by the Football Writers' Association (FWA).
Poland and Ukraine have been chosen to co-host the European Championship football tournament in 2012, UEFA announced on Wednesday.
Manchester United and Chelsea will both be putting their quests for domestic dominance to one side on Wednesday and turning their attentions instead to European glory.
Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers will face each other in the FA Cup for the third successive season after being paired in the fourth round draw on Monday.
Celtic top the group with nine points, followed by United (9), Benfica (7) and FC Copenhagen (4).
In other action on a night of just seven qualifiers around the continent, there were wins for Croatia, Russia, Ireland, Poland and Finland.