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.
Norway captain Brede Hangeland scored a first-half goal to hand Fulham, who escaped relegation on the final day of last season, an upset 1-0 home win over Arsenal in the English Premier League on Saturday. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored four minutes into stoppage time to cap a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over Middlesbrough at Anfield that gives his side maximum points after two rounds.
Rafael Benitez was the best tactical manager Steven Gerrard ever played under but the former Liverpool captain said he felt the Spaniard did not like him as a person, according to an extract from his autobiography being serialized in the Daily Mail.
Having left it late to earn a 3-2 win in the first leg, City took a while to hit their stride at The Etihad on Tuesday but when they did Guardiola's team produced a magnificent attacking display that will ring alarm bells around Europe.
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Raheem Sterling scored a second-half hat-trick as leaders Manchester City beat Watford 3-1 on Saturday while Liverpool kept the gap at one point by overcoming Burnley 4-2 on Sunday.
Chelsea is currently at the fourth place in the Premier League standings with 63 points from 37 matches.
Cesc Fabregas kept alive Chelsea's hopes of finishing in the top four with a quickfire goal in a 1-0 win at Swansea City which leaves the Welsh side facing a major fight to retain their Premier League status.
Frank de Boer ruled out accepting the Tottenham Hotspur job again on Friday, saying he was satisfied with his post at Ajax Amsterdam.
Captain John Terry may have played his final game for Chelsea after receiving his second red card of the season in Saturday's 3-2 Premier League defeat at Sunderland.
Football rallied round on Saturday to offer support to former England captain Rio Ferdinand following the death of his wife, Rebecca Ellison, from cancer.
The prospect of the first repeat FA Cup final for 123 years increased on Monday when holders Chelsea and last year's beaten finalists Manchester United were kept apart in the quarter-final draw.
Whatever Karim Benzema does in a Real Madrid shirt his achievements are generally overshadowed by the exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo yet the France forward has a splendid Champions League record of his own.
Arsenal turned on the style to beat Bolton Wanderers 3-1 on Saturday and get an early-season taste of the top of the Premier League. They top the standings on 12 points, one ahead of Liverpool, who were held to a goalless Anfield draw by Stoke City.
Mario Balotelli's misfiring career at Anfield took another turn for the worst against Real Madrid on Wednesday with a halftime shirt-swap that did not impress manager Brendan Rodgers.
The last flickering embers of Arsenal's Premier League title hopes will all but be extinguished on Sunday unless they beat vibrant Manchester United at Old Trafford. United lead the title race with 77 points and five matches to play, followed by Chelsea (74 points) and Arsenal (71).
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the Premier League
Manchester City came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 4-2 to keep their 100 percent home record and go fourth in the English Premier League.
The Liverpool manager hailed his rejuvenated team after they recorded the Champions League's biggest win by hammering Besiktas 8-0.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became the second England international to leave Arsenal in two days when he joined Premier League rivals Liverpool for a reported 40 million pounds on Thursday.
Barcelona went out of the Champions League in the first knockout phase on the away goals rule despite a 1-0 win over Liverpool.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continued his dream start as Manchester United caretaker manager with a 3-1 Premier League win over Huddersfield on his Old Trafford debut in the dugout on Wednesday.
The former Real Madrid striker is expected to make his Liverpool debut in their lunchtime game against Manchester United at Anfield.
Champions Manchester United travel to Swansea City for their first Premier League match under new manager David Moyes, while Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City are at home to Newcastle United on August 17.
Tottenham Hotspur's clash with Manchester United on Sunday will show whether manager Mauricio Pochettino made the right call when he sacrificed progress in Europe to focus on clinching Spurs' first Premier League title in 55 years.
Everton won 1-0 at bottom club Sunderland to leapfrog Arsenal into fourth place in the Premier League on Saturday and the battle at the other end of the table intensified with wins for three clubs in danger of relegation.
Real Madrid saw off a stirring Chelsea fightback to book their place in the Champions League semi-finals following a 3-2 defeat after extra time in a scintillating second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday to go through 5-4 on aggregate.
Steven Gerrard accused team mate Mario Balotelli of showing disrespect.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Chelsea beat Bayern Munich 4-2 while while Milan beat city rivals Inter 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League first leg quarter-finals.\n\n
Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal are all preparing for sudden-death Champions League games.
'If you arrive at a new club in a new country from Real Madrid then you are under pressure,' said the Liverpool manager of his Spanish midfielder.
The Liverpool and England midfielder was penalised for his two-footed tackle on Everton's Gary Naysmith.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
A summary of all the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
Tottenham Hotspur have shown impressive durability in the Premier League lately, but they will need to be at their most steadfast to deny champions and league leaders Manchester City who travel to Wembley on Monday.
Four months after quitting Liverpool for Manchester City, Raheem Sterling will have the first opportunity to justify the move by getting one over his former employers when the teams meet at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger reckoned that leaving his leading marksman Alexis Sanchez on the substitutes' bench had been a "debatable" decision but it was one that appeared to backfire on the Arsenal manager in the 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday.
Premier League leaders Manchester City turned on the style with a 3-1 win over Manchester United in their derby clash, on Sunday, leaving Pep Guardiola's unbeaten side two points clear of Liverpool.
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