Arsenal bounced back from their shock defeat by Birmingham City in the League Cup final when Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of Leyton Orient in the FA Cup on Wednesday.
England's national team faces a bleak future, Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce warned after Wednesday's game between Portsmouth and Arsenal became the first in the top flight not to feature an English player in the starting line-up. Wednesday's match, which Arsenal won 4-1, featured players from 15 countries among the 22 starters with seven French players on the field.
Manchester City and Arsenal closed in on Premier League leaders Liverpool with contrasting victories on Saturday as Manchester United's bubble was burst by Fulham.
Liverpool kicked off the new year three points clear atop the English Premier League standings with a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United.
Liverpool are sweating on the fitness of key players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres ahead of Tuesday's Champions League encounter away to Marseille.
Arsenal inflicted Liverpool's sixth Premier League defeat of the season with a 2-1 victory on Sunday, their first league win at Anfield since 2003.
Arsenal rediscovered their Premier League form on Saturday with a convincing 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium. Portsmouth ended a run of six successive league defeats when they won 3-0 at Everton while Hull City's flying start ended emphatically when they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Wigan Athletic.
Three consecutive draws for Chelsea allowed Manchester United to stride into 2007 six points clear at the top of the EPL table.
Ugly scenes marred Birmingham City's 2-1 League Cup quarter-final victory over local rivals Aston Villa on Wednesday with fans ripping up seats and throwing flares into the crowd after a post-match pitch invasion.
In recent seasons Benitez has made little attempt to disguise his feelings that the Premier League was strictly a second priority after the Champions League.
Arsenal bounced back from two successive Premier League defeats in emphatic style by thrashing Wigan Athletic 4-0 at the Emirates on Saturday.
Manchester United threw away a 2-0 lead after a Patrice Evra own goal and an error by Edwin van der Sar saw them held 2-2 by West Bromwich Albion while Premier League leaders Chelsea drew 0-0 at Aston Villa Saturday.
A summary of Tuesday's Champions League Round of 16, Second Leg, matches.
Bolton Wanderers secured a priceless three points in their bid to escape relegation on Saturday, winning 1-0 at Middlesbrough.
A summary of Saturday's action in LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Liverpool diced with elimination before scoring two late goals to win 2-1 at Trabzonspor and squeeze into the Europa League on Thursday while Swiss second division side Lausanne came through with a shock win over Lokomotiv Moscow.
Manchester City have grabbed the spotlight on the eve of the Premier League season, with Robinho named in their 25-man squad list on Friday and Mario Balotelli flying in for a medical.
Mauricio Pochettino has left his job as Chelsea manager by mutual consent, the Premier League side announced on Tuesday.
Chelsea's Belgium forward won Eden Hazard England's PFA player of the year award ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea on Sunday.
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks' time.
Everton moved up to fifth in the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 home defeat of Middlesbrough.
Frank Lampard hit four goals for Chelsea in a 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa to put the Londoners briefly on top of the English Premier League with 71 points before United responded with a 4-0 win in an evening game at Bolton Wanderers -- Dimitar Berbatov scoring twice for the champions.
Manchester United striker Michael Owen will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday.
Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable scoring streak with his 28th goal of the season to seal Manchester United's 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium Sunday.
Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable scoring streak with his 28th goal of the season to seal Manchester United's 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
After seven consecutive league defeats, and one point from the last 30 on offer, had plunged Villa into crisis and cost Tim Sherwood his job, the former European champions produced a gritty display to frustrate City.
Chelsea also begin the new English season at home, against promoted Birmingham City.
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen suffered a suspected broken leg during the goalless draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Bolton Wanderers moved off the bottom of the Premier League and out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home defeat of Manchester City on Sunday. A poor game was settled by two late goals, the first a close-range effort from Ricardo Gardner and the second an own goal from City defender Richard Dunne.
The Chelsea striker is to have a hernia operation on Tuesday.
Wayne Rooney was involved in every goal as Manchester United beat struggling Hull City 3-1 on Sunday to slash Chelsea's lead to two points in the Premier League. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who defeated fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two second-half goals, into second place.
Wayne Rooney gave away a goal but redeemed himself to inspire Manchester United to a 3-1 win over struggling Hull City which slashed Chelsea's lead to two points at the top of the Premier League on Sunday. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who beat fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two goals, into second place.
Cesc Fabregas scored twice to send Arsenal second in the Premier League, four points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand, after brushing aside Aston Villa 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Liverpool duo Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were both unexpectedly passed fit on Friday for Saturday's Premier League game against champions Manchester United at Anfield. Gerrard has recently undergone groin surgery and, though manager Rafa Benitez said he thought his captain would make the game, the player himself said last weekend he would prefer more time to get back to full fitness.
Chelsea and Liverpool, the only teams to start the English Premier League season with two wins, lost their 100 percent records on Sunday when they drew with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa respectively. Chelsea had scored five goals and conceded none in their opening wins, while Spurs lost both theirs but they drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge after Darren Bent cancelled out Juliano Belletti's opener for the home side.
Sunderland have appointed Martin O'Neill as manager after sacking Steve Bruce earlier this week, the Premier League club said on Saturday
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will get a close-up of the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle on Saturday when Gareth Barry runs out for Manchester City at Anfield for a match with huge implications for both clubs.
Arsenal romped to a 4-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to move into second place in the English Premier League while Manchester City's hopes of threatening the top four were hit by a fifth consecutive draw. City drew 3-3 with Burnley after having battled back from a two-goal deficit to lead with three minutes remaining.
Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a crushing 5-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday but Tottenham Hotspur were brought down to earth when Stoke City snatched a late 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane.
The Gunners' only league defeat of the campaign was in September away to one of England's traditional top-six clubs, Manchester United, drawing criticism that their strong start to the season was based on wins against lesser opposition.
