Premiership Preview--17. Bolton Wanderers

For everyone outside of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal, success in the Premiership can be fickle. We saw it last year with Tottenham, who wound up an extremely disappointing 11th after two straight 5th-place finishes. We saw it last year with Reading, a club that was relegated a season after finishing comfortably in 8th place.

Bolton is a perfect example of this. In 2004-2005, Sam Allardyce led the suburban Manchester side to 6th and a UEFA Cup berth the next year. The Trotters ended the '05'06 campaign in 8th, narrowly missing out on Europe, but fought their way back into the UEFA Cup last season through a 7th-place finish in 2006-2007. They reached the Round of 16 in Europe's second-tier club competition, but only narrowly avoided relegtion from the Premiership as the sale of star striker Nicolas Anelka in January and the resignation of Allardyce at the end of the '06-'07 season crippled the team. The three consistent, top-half finishes were great for Bolton fans, but would've been little consolation if their team had finished with just two points fewer than what they'd earned.

Bolton has the dubious distinction of being the club who has spent the most seasons in the Premiership/First Division without ever winning the title (69). That isn't going to change this year either, and Gary Megson has spent more than $30 million, a relatively large amount of money for a small club like Bolton, on only three players, all of whom will likely be starters. With that said, Johan Elmander was the biggest splash in terms of name-recognition, and he's only slightly above average at best.

Fabrice Muamba brings some youth and exuberance to an aging Bolton midfield, which, to be fair, was made younger this summer with the release of Stelios Giannakopolus and Ivan Campo, both of whom are well past their prime playing days. Muamba is a quality young defensive midfielder and will feature immediately, as will Elmander, who was signed from Toulouse for a reported $20 million in a swap deal that saw Daniel Braaten go the other way. Elmander has a decent goalscoring record for Sweden and is coming off a good season in France, but based on what he's shown in the past, Bolton clearly overpaid for him. Riga Mustapha just signed from Levante, where he scored roughly a goal every five games, and his pace will be a welcome addition to Bolton's wings.

As mentioned earlier, the subtractions of Giannakopolus and Campo are no big losses to Bolton on the field, although both provided experience and leadership. El-Hadji Diouf, arguably Bolton's most dangerous player last year after Nicholas Anelka, was sold to Sunderland. He has a reputation for being a bit of a cancer in the dressing room at times, but there's no denying his natural ability and Bolton will miss what he does out there.

Muamba further reinforces the midfield, by far the strongest area of Bolton's squad. He'll sit in a holding role and allow Kevin Nolan to push further up the field as he likes to do. Matty Taylor mans the left wing after spending several years as an attacking left back at Portsmouth, and Mustapha will slide into Diouf's role on the right. Gavin McCann will occupy the space ahead of Muamba and behind Nolan, where his noted lack of foot-speed can be protected from exploitation, when Bolton plays a 4-5-1, which they'll do fairly often. The versatile Ricardo Gardner will get his share of playing time, likely swapping in and out with Taylor depending on the form of both players, and also at left back, where he's ahead of Jlloyd Samuel. Young Swiss international Blerim Džemaili should return from a severe knee injury and compete with Joey O'Brien for a backup role behind McCann.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Jussi Jääskeläinen

RB: Grétar Steinsson
CB: Andy O'Brien
CB: Gary Cahill
LB: Ricardo Gardner

RMF: Mustapha
DMF: Muamba
AMF: Nolan (captain)
LMF: Taylor

ST: Kevin Davies
ST: Elmander

Bolton desperately needs to improve their play away from the Reebok Stadium; they had the worst road record of any of the 17 teams not relegated last year with a 2-5-12 mark and -23 goal differential. They weren't really competitive on their travels, and that may not change to start the new season as their first five road games are at difficult venues -- St. James' Park (Newcastle), Craven Cottage (Fulham), Old Trafford (Manchester United), Upton Park (West Ham), and White Hart Lane (Tottenham). You never know what you're going to get on any given day from Newcastle, West Ham, and Fulham, but Bolton still will need to bring their best game to pick up valuable points.

December is their toughest month, with games against Chelsea, @Aston Villa, Portsmouth, and @Liverpool all in a 20-day span. It doesn't get much easier in January as Bolton will visit Blackburn and Arsenal and play host to Manchester United and Tottenham before traveling to Everton in the first weekend of February. I could honestly see Bolton failing to win even one of those nine games, so it's critical they take advantage of a relatively easy slate in March (@Stoke, Fulham, @West Brom) and finish the year strong in May when Sunderland and Hull come to town. Also in May, Bolton will go to Wigan and Manchester City, both manageable games.

Bottom Line: You're going to see a Jekyll-and-Hyde Bolton team based on this schedule, which is excrutiatingly difficult for stretches and very forgiving in others. As long as they get the job done when they're supposed to, I think Bolton will be OK, but they can't afford to drop many points because West Brom will be nipping at their heels all year long. The key for Megson will be finding someone to score goals. Davies and Nolan combined for only 9 in the league last season, and that total needs to improve by 4 or 5.

Tomorrow brings 16th and 15th places to the forefront. Last year, that was the thick of the relegation fight. This year, I'm not so sure if that'll be the case..

The Dream Lives On!

Fulham is a victory at Fratton Park next weekend away from completing a great escape after their 2-0 win today over Birmingham. A trademark Brian McBride diving header to finish off a fabulous in-swinging free kick from Jimmy Bullard opened the scoring for the Cottagers, and Erik Nevland sealed it late once again to account for the final scoreline. Kasey Keller continued to prove why he’s become Roy Hodgson’s first choice in goal over Antti Niemi with the clean sheet.

Their third win in four matches propelled Fulham out of the relegation zone (for now, anyway) and into 17th place, as they have a better goal differential than Reading. Both clubs have 33 points, Birmingham is in 19th with 32 points, and obviously each of these three teams have one game to go.

As previously mentioned, Fulham's game is at a Portsmouth team playing for nothing right now except to stay healthy for the FA Cup final, Birmingham hosts Blackburn in a game that has draw written all over it, and Reading will visit Derby, who will want to bow out of the Premiership with a great performance for their fans. Bolton is playing Sunderland right now, and the Trotters also have 33 points. A victory should mean safety, but a loss would make things hairy for Gary Megson's team as they aren't going to get anything against Chelsea next weekend.

There was a terrific atmosphere at Craven Cottage for Fulham's last home game of the year. Fulham has some of the best fans in the Premiership and it showed today. You can really tell how much that team means to the supporters, and you can't say the same about other fans and teams in the league.

90 minutes left for Fulham and three points would do the trick. They are playing with so much confidence right now and I really believe they're going to get the job done at Portsmouth next week.

Fulham's Premiership Survival Battle Is Not Over Yet

Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know of my undying hope for Fulham to stay in the Premiership. It seems like every couple weeks for the past two months, I’ve written a post saying that it’s unwise to write Fulham off, but then they go and screw up where they shouldn’t screw up and it looks like crow will become a new part of my diet at the end of the year.

I picked them to finish 13th this season and while that won’t happen, I would like to see my prediction somewhat vindicated by the Cottagers staying up. Their roster is full of Americans — Kasey Keller, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Johnson, and the captain, Brian McBride — and as an American myself, I’m rooting for my fellow countrymen to get the job done each and every week. I also have a soft spot for them as an underdog, playing in the shadow of much bigger clubs in London in a small, old (but cozy and picturesque) stadium.

So yes, it’s no secret that I want Fulham to be successful.

I had a previous engagement on Saturday and wasn’t able to turn the Manchester City-Fulham game on until about the 55th minute, by which City was already up 2-0 through a couple of early goals. I watched for five or ten more minutes and wasn’t exactly thrilled by what I saw out of the West London club. At that point, I was resigned to Fulham losing, so I turned on the NFL Draft to check out who my Buffalo Bills were going to take in the 2nd Round.

I won’t lie to you. I wish I could say I was a diehard fan who watched the game until the very end, but I can’t. I wish I could say that I always knew Fulham would find a way back and get something out of that game, but again, that wouldn’t be the truth.

Watching the Everton-Aston Villa game the next afternoon, I was talking with my brother, an avid Liverpool fan, about useless strikers in the Premiership. He, of course, went on and on about Andriy Voronin and Dirk Kuyt earlier in the season. I then threw out Diomansy Kamara, who is usually a late game sub brought on by Roy Hodgson to have an immediate impact. That seems to never, ever, happen though; Kamara generally replaces David Healy and does very little when he comes into the game.

Then he told me Kamara scored twice on Saturday.

“Twice?!? Fulham lost 2-0, how’d he score twice??”

“They didn’t lose, they won 3-2.”

“No they didn’t! It was 2-0 when I turned the game off, how did they win??”

“Well, Danny Murphy put in his own rebound from a missed PK, and they got the winner from Kamara in stoppage time.”

As a Liverpool supporter, he had to mention Danny Murphy. He just had to.

When I saw the highlights on the Premier League Review Show last night, I was still stunned. Diomansy Kamara looked like a world-beater out there. He looked like a guy who had no business playing for a small club like Fulham. His two goals came from cool, cool finishes, and Murphy was composed enough to score from close range as well.

Manchester City seemed to have bossed the game, with Kasey Keller repeatedly coming up huge in net for Hodgson’s team. Then all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, Fulham won the game and took the valuable three points.

Because of that incredible comeback, Fulham now has a chance to avoid relegation. They’re still in 19th place with 30 points, but they’re only three points away from safety and have a better goal differential than 17th-place Reading.

Next weekend, the Cottagers host Birmingham City, who are in 18th with 32 points and have lost a whopping 13 games away from home this season whilst winning just two. A victory for Fulham would potentially propel them ahead of Reading, not to mention Birmingham, because Steve Coppell’s side has a home game against Tottenham. I can’t see Reading winning that game, although a draw is very likely, but they could just as easily lose. If they don’t come away with anything and Fulham wins, Fulham would leap into 16th place heading into the last game of the season.

Now, I’ll admit, I think the Reading-Spurs game will end in a tie. That would put Reading on 34 points, one ahead of Bolton, who plays host to Sunderland next weekend. I can also see that game ending all square, so Bolton would be on 34 points as well. A Fulham victory would give the Cottagers 33 points with one game to go, and for Fulham, it’s a trip to Fratton Park against a Portsmouth team who have put all of their eggs in the FA Cup final basket. Bolton’s last game is at Chelsea, where they’ll get nothing, Reading’s is at Derby, who will be anxious to give their fans one last solid Premiership performance, and Birmingham is home to Blackburn, which has “draw” written all over it.

What does this all mean? Well, let’s say Fulham manages to get a draw at Portsmouth, Reading get beat at Derby, and Birmingham do pick up a point against Blackburn. Assuming Fulham does, in fact, take care of business and beat Birmingham, that would leave Fulham on 34 points, Reading on 34, Bolton on 34, and Birmingham on 33. Birmingham would be relegated, and it would come down to goal differential between the three tied teams. Fulham’s is currently three goals better than that of Reading, and five goals worse than that of Bolton. If it all stays the same, Reading would go down as well, leaving Fulham and Bolton in the Premiership.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be a great end to the Premiership season. I sincerely hope that Fulham can pull off the great escape and stay in England’s top flight, and yours truly will be cheering for them in each of their last two games.

Fulham is Not Done and Dusted Yet

Amazing.

Just last week, I wrote, in effect, that if Fulham didn't beat Sunderland at Craven Cottage, their hopes for retaining a place in the Premiership were finished. Their remaining schedule didn't provide too many opportunities to pick up points, so the Cottagers absolutely needed to get a victory against a team that had been poor on the road all season.

We all know what happened; Sunderland came into London and walked out with a 3-1 victory, despite a great goal from Fulham striker David Healy. At that point, I thought Healy's team was doomed for the drop.

Not so fast. Yesterday's game against Reading was truly, in all senses of the term, a must-win affair. Fulham HAD to have all three points, no if's, and's, or but's. They played like it too, dominating the match for all 90 minutes and in the end, earned a 2-0 victory that could've eaily been 4-0 or 5-0. Brian McBride scored in the 24th minute, and Erik Nevland, one of the Scandinavian players brought in under Roy Hodgson's watch, finished it in second half stoppage time.

Sure, Reading didn't show up, but you have to give Fulham a lot of credit for taking their fate by the scruff of the neck and fighting for survival. Anything else besides a victory and the fans back in West London would've needed to get used to drinking Coca-Cola for at least a season.

Fulham will be a bit disheartened by Bolton's 1-0 win over West Ham, as the Trotters moved themselves to within two points of safety and kept their position in 18th place, two points ahead of Fulham.

With that said, though, 18th isn't Fulham's ultimate goal; 17th is, and they moved two points closer after Birmingham's home draw against Everton. Again, Fulham will feel a bit unlucky because Birmingham equalized in the 83rd minute to snatch a share of the spoils, but making up two points (instead of three) is still huge right now.

Let's take a look at the run-ins for Fulham, Birmingham, and Bolton, and we'll even throw Reading in there as well as Steve Coppell's club is only three points clear of the drop zone. These four teams are likely to fight it out until the last kick of the ball this season; I believe everyone ahead of Reading is safe and obviously Derby County has long been relegated.

Fulham (27 points): Liverpool, @ Manchester City, Birmingham, @ Portsmouth
Bolton (29): @ Middlesbrough, @ Tottenham, Sunderland, @ Chelsea
Birmingham (31): @ Aston Villa, Liverpool, @ Fulham, Blackburn
Reading (32): @ Arsenal, @ Wigan, Tottenham, @ Derby County

Clearly, the biggest game of the 16 shown here is Fulham-Birmingham at Craven Cottage. If Fulham can manage to leapfrog Bolton and, in the process, cut their deficit to two points or less when they host Birmingham on Saturday, May 3, a victory would catapult the London side out of the bottom three.

How do I see things going, you ask?

Well, I can see Fulham taking five points (draw with Liverpool and at City, victory over Birmingham), Bolton taking only one (draw with Sunderland), Birmingham only one (draw with Blackburn), and Reading three (draws at Wigan, with Spurs, and at Derby).

If those predictions stayed true, the final standings would look like this:

16. Reading (35)
T17: Birmingham (32)
Fulham (32)
19. Bolton (30)

Birmingham and Fulham would then have to be sorted out by using goal differential. At this point, it definitely favors Birmingham (-13 to Fulham's -24), but three Birmingham losses, including the one at Fulham, could turn that around. I would still say that Birmingham would win a tiebreaker, but you never know.

The last four games of the season are going to be great. This is a relegation battle that will go down to the last day and for Fulham to even make this a contest after last week's loss to Sunderland is great. As I said, I'm not sure if they climb out, but they're going to keep fighting until the end.

PK's Unkind to Spurs, Everton

Clubs from England, England, of all countries, struggling in a penalty shootout? Not surprising in the least.

Everton needed to reverse a 2-0 deficit heading into their second leg against Fiorentina at Goodison Park today and did so. Both teams had their chances late in normal time and then in extra time to win the tie but couldn't finish, and Fiorentina won the crapshoot that is PK's. All bets are off after 120 minutes, no matter who the home team is. Both goalkeepers, Sebastien Frey and Tim Howard, had very good games and each made some crucial saves, but Frey was able to parry Phil Jagielka's spot kick and Yakubu hit the post. Fiorentina converted all four of their efforts from 12 yards out to escape Liverpool and advance.

Like Everton, Spurs needed to overcome a deficit in Eindhoven as today's hosts won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in the first leg. Like Everton, Spurs were able to accomplish that. Like Everton, Spurs lost in PK's, although this shootout was more captivating. Tottenham had a chance to win the game but Jermaine Jenas' effort was saved by Eindhoven's goalkeeper, Gomes, and then Pascal Chimbonda's awful shot allowed the Dutch side to progress on penalties, 6-5.

Dick Advocaat-managed Zenit St. Petersburg continues to impress, coming from 3-1 down in the first leg and winning 2-0 today to advance on the away goals rule over Olympique Marseille.

I'll have a complete recap of the Round of 16 after the final two games tomorrow, both of which feature another British team -- Rangers in Bremen to take on Werder, and Bolton in Lisbon to take on Sporting.

UEFA Cup Round of 32 Recap; Round of 16 Draw

Wow, it's been an extremely busy week of cup competitions what with FA Cup Fifth Round action last weekend, Champions League Round of 16 first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs today.

Four out of the five British teams, including all three English teams, left in the UEFA Cup advanced to the next round after doing enough in their respective matches this evening. Draws for Bolton (0-0), Rangers (1-1), and Tottenham (1-1) sealed all three sides' places in the last 16.

Perhaps the most surprising of those three teams, Bolton came into today's game at Sergio Aguero-less Atlético Madrid with a 1-0 lead on aggregate and knew what they needed to do: just get a draw or lose by one goal while scoring at least one goal themselves. They had one shot (which was on goal), ONE shot, but in a performance former manager Sam Allardyce would've been proud of, the 4-5-1 formation more than did its job and the match ended scoreless. Atlético clearly missed Aguero; they showed little creativity in the attacking third and were stifled all game long.

Aberdeen needed a miracle performance in Munich to beat Bayern, having conceded two goals at home in the first leg. Virtually no one expected this tie to be even heading back to Germany, so just making this game mean something had to have been a bonus for Aberdeen. The Dons lost 5-1 today as Lukas Podolski bagged a brace for the hosts, and while perhaps they will be disappointed with their showing in this game, they'll surely take solace in reaching this stage of the competition.

Finally, Everton thrashed Norwegian side SK Brann 6-1 behind a hat trick from Yakubu and two goals from Andy Johnson. This was a tie Everton had always expected to win, but they have to be especially pleased with a performance like they gave today.

Round of 32 Final Aggregates (teams listed first advance):

Hamburg SV-3, FC Zürich-1
Bayer Leverkusen-5, Galatasaray-1
Anderlecht-3, Bordeaux-2
Olympique Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow-2
PSV Eindhoven-4, Helsingborg-1
Tottenham-3, Slavia Prague-2
Rangers-1, Panathinaikos-1 (Rangers advance on away goals)
Fiorentina-3, Rosenborg-1
Bayern Munich-7, Aberdeen-3
Sporting Lisbon-5, FC Basel-0
Getafe-4, AEK Athens-1
Everton-8, SK Brann-1
Bolton-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Benfica-3, FC Nuremberg-2
Zenit St. Petersburg-2, Villarreal-2 (Zenit St. Petersburg advance on away goals)
Werder Bremen-4, Braga-0

The draw for the Round of 16 was also released this afternoon, and the four British teams left will have their work cut out for them. The tie of the round could very well turn out to be Spurs-PSV Eindhoven, as both teams love to attack and play a fast tempo. These ties will be played March 6 and 12/13

Complete Round of 16 Draw (home teams listed first):

Anderlecht vs. Bayern Munich
Rangers vs. Werder Bremen
Bolton vs. Sporting Lisbon
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Hamburg SV
Getafe vs. Benfica
Fiorentina vs. Everton
Tottenham vs. PSV Eindhoven
Olympique Marseille vs. Zenit St Petersburg

Note: British teams are in bold

Everton, Bolton, Spurs in the Driver's Seat; Dons, 'Gers Have Work to Do

Solid away victories for Everton and Tottenham, at Brann and Slavia Prague respectively, have propelled the two Premiership sides into great position heading into their UEFA Cup Round of 32 second legs next week.

Everton had the more straightforward road game of the two, although going to Norway in February really couldn't have been pleasant. The Toffees clearly came to win as manager David Moyes opted to play a 4-4-2 formation instead of the more traditional away 4-5-1, and Yakubu was back in the starting lineup after his benching last weekend.

Their sixth straight UEFA Cup victory didn't come easy for Merseyside's second team; it was a 0-0 game heading into halftime and Brann had their share of chances in the first 45 minutes. Midfielder Leon Osman opened the scoring for Everton, however, in the 59th minute, and Victor Anichebe put the match to bed with a goal two minutes before full-time.

The victors had 61% of the possession but as I've said time and time again, you can have the ball all you want but it only matters if you do something with it, and Everton was able to do that tonight.

Tottenham went into the Czech Republic and held on for a 2-1 victory despite an awful mistake by former Slavia Prague goalkeeper Radek Cerny that allowed the hosts to pull one back. Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov each scored in the first half for Spurs, giving the strike duo a combined 36 goals so far this season.

Juande Ramos went with a makeshift back four as Pascal Chimbonda (left back), Didier Zokora (center back), and Teemu Tainio (right back) all played out of their usual positions. Ledley King stayed on the bench as the freezing temperature would've put his sore knee at even further risk, and both Lee Young-Pyo and Younes Kaboul were also available if needed.

The two away goals scored by Spurs and Everton really set both teams up nicely for the home leg next week, where I would expect a win from them anyway.

Fellow Premiership side Bolton got a victory as well, a 1-0 triumph over Atletico Madrid at the Reebok. The Trotters also received a big bonus and trump card in the form of a Sergio Aguero red card, meaning he'll miss the return leg next week. Aguero, the Argentine wunderkid, is tied for 10th in scoring in La Liga with 9 league goals and has scored 5 goals in 5 UEFA Cup games this season as well.

El-Hadji Diouf scored a minute after Aguero's dismissal late in the second half to put Bolton ahead, but former Pompey left back/midfielder Matthew Taylor put on a man of the match-type performance in the victory. Taylor was also the victim of the spitting incident that earned Aguero an early trip to the showers after the former's challenge.

After countless low crowds this season, Bolton were boosted by their largest home crowd of the season (26,163).

The two Scottish clubs left in this competition, Rangers and Aberdeen, both have their work cut out for them next week. Both sides were the hosts for this leg and both came out with a draw.

Aberdeen will have to go to Munich and either win or score at least two goals in a draw to advance past Bayern, the odds-on favorites to win the tournament, as today's match ended at 2-2. England U-19 players Josh Walker and Sone Aluko scored for the Dons, who led this game on two separate occasions.

Bayern Munich didn't play a full-strength side and nearly paid the price. A few controversial refereeing decisions went against Aberdeen and would've resulted in PK's for the hosts if they would've been called. Instead, Bayern will thank fortune for being on their side and should win with relative ease next week to move on to the Round of 16.

Current SPL leaders Rangers were held to a 0-0 draw at Ibrox by Greek side Panathinaikos, who can advance with a win in Athens next week. They're undefeated at home in the league so far this season (8-2-0) and could pull off a surprise by defeating Rangers and progressing to the next round.

The only other surprise of this week's first leg was a 1-0 victory by Dick Advocaat-coached Zenit St. Petersburg over Villarreal.

Complete List of First Leg Scores: (Home team listed first)

Aberdeen-2, Bayern Munich-2
AEK Athens-1, Getafe–1
Bolton Wanderers-1, Atlético Madrid-0
Zenit St. Petersburg-1, Villarreal–0
Galatasaray-0, Bayer Leverkusen–0
Anderlecht-2, Bordeaux–1
Brann-0, Everton–2
FC Zürich-1, Hamburg SV–3
Rangers-0, Panathinaikos–0
PSV Eindhoven-2, Helsingborg-0
Slavia Prague-1, Tottenham–2
Rosenborg-0, Fiorentina–1
Sporting Lisbon-2, FC Basel-0
Werder Bremen-3, Sporting Braga-0
Benfica-1, Nuremberg–0
Marseille-3, Spartak Moscow–0

Note: British teams are in bold

A Trio of Six-Pointers

Things have been pretty busy in the soccer world recently at least as far as this site goes, what with the African Cup of Nations in full swing and the FA Cup 4th Round ties and 5th Round draw over the past few days.

Let’s not forget the bread and butter though. Premier League action heats up again with a round of midweek games, starting with four tomorrow and then five on Wednesday. Three of tomorrow’s matches are extremely, extremely important and so I wanted to give you a brief preview of what to watch for. These games are the definition of the term “six-pointers”, as each of the six teams involved are in the relegation fight and could either go three points closer to safety or three more points behind the teams they’re chasing in the battle to remain in the Premier League.

Middlesbrough (13th; 22 pts) vs. Wigan (17th; 20 pts):

This will be game #1 of the post-Jonathan Woodgate era at Middlesbrough. Say what you like about Woodgate and how injury-prone he is, but he’s a quality center-back and his presence will sorely be missed at the Riverside, especially as Boro have already conceded 37 goals this season. They’ve won just once in their last six league matches and only twice at home all season. Both Tuncay Sanli and Gary O’Neil should return to the lineup, however, and that will be a boost to Gareth Southgate’s club.

Marlon King should be set to make his debut for Wigan after recently joining the Lancashire side from Watford. King is a serviceable striker who will help Wigan up front; they’ve scored only 23 goals in as many matches this season. They’ve won just once away from the JJB this year but have earned points in five out of their last seven league games, including their sole road win at Derby. As a sidenote, this will be Wigan’s 100th match in the Premier League.

Bolton (15th; 21 pts) vs. Fulham (19th; 15 pts):

Out of the six clubs I’ve highlighted today, I think these two need a victory the most.

Bolton lack any type of scoring punch now that Nicolas Anelka has continued his nomadic ways and moved to Chelsea, and the likely signing of Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill doesn’t address that need whatsoever. The Trotters have won just twice in their last seven league games and those wins came against Derby and Birmingham. El-Hadji Diouf and Abdoulaye Meite are both away due to African Cup of Nations duty and that doesn’t help matters at all.

One thing that does work in Bolton’s favor, however, is Fulham’s awful road form. Bolton have been solid at home this season (5-3-4) and Fulham have picked up only four points in eleven away league matches so far (0-4-7). The Cottagers actually hadn’t won away from home in the 2007 calendar year either, so Bolton should have the advantage tomorrow in that regard. Fulham will need Clint Dempsey to have a good game tomorrow if they have any hope of gaining a much-needed three points.

Sunderland (18th; 20 pts) vs. Birmingham City (16th; 20 pts):

Sunderland will head into tomorrow’s match with a much-weakened side as Michael Chopra, Danny Higginbotham, Grant Leadbitter, Ross Wallace, Kieran Richardson, Carlos Edwards, and Dickson Etuhu will all be out and each of those players has had an appreciable role with the club this season. The Black Cats have shown improvement recently with two wins in their last five league matches, including the dominant 2-0 win against Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light on January 13. Kenwyne Jones is capable of scoring every time he walks onto the field and Birmingham will likely have trouble containing him in the air.

The Blues have the most away wins (2) out of any team in the bottom seven in the Premiership and will likely hand James McFadden his first start since his recent move from Everton. Mauro Zarate has joined the club on loan as well and trust me, this kid is a star in the making. He scored the winning goal for the Argentine U-20 team in the final of last summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup against the Czech Republic, and was the co-top scorer in the Argentine Apertura in 2006-2007 with 12 goals. Birmingham are healthy and will have every opportunity to steal a victory on the road, although they’ll have to earn it as Sunderland are 5-3-3 on home turf this season.

A Weekend to Forget? Not So Fast, My Friend

If you're a neutral observer like me, this weekend's slate of games really doesn't have any compelling storylines or reasons to get excited, at least from the outside. None of the big teams are playing each other and there are no rivalry games. The closest thing to a true derby is the Fulham-Arsenal affair at Craven Cottage tomorrow but I don't think anyone expects that game to be pleasing to the eye.

Look a little bit deeper though. You'll find what could be a pretty good game between Reading and Manchester United as Reading went to Old Trafford early in the season and escaped with a point. Now the Royals get a chance to knock off the defending champions at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow in front of what should be a capacity crowd in Reading. United have lost three times away from home this season already. Can Reading make it a fourth? I'm not so sure, but I think that's still a game to keep an eye on.

Kevin Keegan will make his Premiership return with Newcastle as his side welcomes Bolton to St. James Park tomorrow afternoon. With Nicolas Anelka gone to Chelsea and with the incredible amount of emotion one would expect to see from Newcastle, you wouldn't think Bolton has much of a chance but emotion can only carry Newcastle so far. Bolton will have to commit men forward if they want to win, which is more than possible. Newcastle are a bad team; Bolton have no punch without Anelka. You say boring, I say one of the most exciting draws you'll see all season simply because no one is expecting much out of this game. Hey, if Newcastle lose, maybe we'll see Kevin Keegan cry again, you never know. That possibility alone makes this game worth watching.

West Ham and Manchester City will square off for the second time in four days on Sunday as the two sides will get together again at Eastlands after City beat the Hammers 1-0 there in a FA Cup 3rd Round replay on Wednesday. Nothing says emotion and passion like renewed acquaintances and I'd expect to see most of the same players on Sunday that we saw in midweek because both teams sent out full-strength sides. I think there's a good chance we'll see our share of yellow cards and possibly a sending off or two in this game. Remember, both teams are within striking distance of a place in Europe next season, so that just makes Sunday's match even more meaningful.

I'll be honest with you, the rest of this weekend's games don't look to be that great, on paper at least. That's the beauty of the Premiership though. Did anyone foresee that 4-4 goalfest between Aston Villa and Chelsea a couple weeks ago? I know I didn't; Chelsea rarely score more than a goal or two in a game, much less concede more than once. The Premiership is the most entertaining league in the world. I'm not expecting anything from the other games this weekend but even though I can say that with certainty now, just watch a candidate for game of the year come out from the woodwork.

I wouldn't be surprised, and you shouldn't be either.

Lazy Friday Night

Nothing much to report tonight, although I'm sure you've all heard about Nicholas Anelka's reported $30 million US move to Chelsea today. When he makes his first appearance with the West London side, Anelka will have played for his eighth different professional team since 1995. The "Incredible Sulk" has cost teams a combined $170 million US in transfer fees over the course of his career.

You heard it here first: Tottenham will end Chelsea's record home league unbeaten streak at 73 matches tomorrow...

UEFA Cup Draw--Rounds of 32, 16

Wow, we've had draws galore over the past couple days what with the Carling Cup semifinal draw yesterday and the UEFA Cup Round of 32/Round of 16 and the Champions League Round of 16 draws today. I'll get to the Champions League draw in my next post, but right now I want to shine the spotlight on Europe's second-tier club competition, the UEFA Cup.

Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup twice in a row now but won't have a chance to make it a trifecta. The Spanish side qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this season, where they'll meet Fenerbahçe; but again, I'll discuss those pairings later on today.

The UEFA Cup final will be played at the City of Manchester Stadium this year, the first time it's been in held in England since the UEFA Cup switched from a two-legged final to a one-off affair in 1997-1998.

The draw for both the Round of 32 and the Round of 16 was made today in Nyon, Switzerland, the headquarters of UEFA. The eight UEFA Cup group winners were drawn against the eight third-placed teams, while the eight second-placed teams were drawn against the eight teams who finished third in the Champions League groups. Teams from the same country or the same group can't be drawn against each other.

Round of 32 draw: (Note--The team listed first plays at home first, then away)

Aberdeen vs. Bayern Munich
AEK Athens vs. Getafe
Bolton Wanderers vs. Atletico Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Villarreal
Galatasaray vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht vs. Bordeaux
Brann vs. Everton
Zurich vs. Hamburg
Rangers vs. Panathinaikos
PSV Eindhoven vs. Helsingborg
Slavia Prague vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Rosenborg vs. Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon vs. Basel
Werder Bremen vs. Sporting Braga
Benfica vs. Nuremberg
Olympique Marseille vs. Spartak Moscow

The first legs are scheduled for February 13/14, and the second legs will be played on February 21.

Round of 16 draw: (Once again, the first team listed is home first, then away)

Anderlecht/Bordeaux vs. Aberdeen/Bayern Munich
Rangers/Panathinaikos vs. Werder Bremen/Sporting Braga
Bolton Wanderers/Atletico Madrid vs. Sporting Lisbon/Basel
Galatasaray/Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zurich/Hamburg
AEK Athens/Getafe vs. Benfica/Nuremberg
Rosenborg/Fiorentina vs. Brann/Everton
Slavia Prague/Tottenham Hotspur vs. PSV Eindhoven/Helsingborg
Olympique Marseille/Spartak Moscow vs. Zenit St. Petersburg/Villarreal

The first legs will be played on March 6, and the second legs will be contested on March 12/13.

•British teams are highlighted in bold.

You have to believe that Bayern Munich are the favorites to win this competition. They are on top of the Bundesliga (tied with Werder Bremen) with 36 points from 17 games heading into the winter break. With Luca Toni, Lukas Podolski, Franck Ribéry, and Miroslav Klose, the German side are more explosive than anyone else left in the UEFA Cup and to be honest, I believe they would've qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League this year if that would've been possible.

As far as the British clubs go, Everton and Tottenham seemingly have the best chances to progress further in this competition. Everton should take care of SK Brann, the Norwegian champions, without too much trouble (although it'll be miserable when they go up to Norway to play) and Tottenham should handle Slavia Prague as well. Rangers should also progress to the Round of 16, but I don't like their chances against Werder Bremen whereas I think Everton would prevail over two legs against relative lightweight Rosenborg or Fiorentina and Spurs would likely do the same against PSV Eindhoven.

Here are my predictions to advance to the Round of 16:

Bayern Munich
Getafe
Atletico Madrid
Villarreal
Bayer Leverkusen
Anderlecht
Everton
Hamburg
Rangers
PSV Eindhoven
Tottenham
Fiorentina
Sporting Lisbon
Werder Bremen
Benfica
Spartak Moscow

Nicolas Anelka = Terrell Owens/Randy Moss?

Before I get to my idea I just want to put something out there, not just for this post but for every other post I make in the future. There is a reason I don't call "soccer" "football" on this site. As an American, I already have "football" and that's college football and the NFL, where they kick, punt, run, and throw the ball. What everyone else across the world calls "football" will always be called "soccer" here, so that's just for further reference. This particular post deals with athletes in both soccer and football, so that's why I wanted to make note of the distinction.

There is also a reason that Nicolas "The Incredible Sulk" Anelka has played for seven professional clubs even though he's still relatively young, just 28 years old. It's no coincidence that a striker who has scored (depending on what statistical site you look at) 110 goals in 327 league appearances since the 1995 season and represented his country 43 times since 1998 has bounced around from country to country (France, England, Spain, back to France, back to England, Turkey, and back to England). According to the commentators in today's Bolton-Manchester United match in which Anelka had the game-winning goal, Anelka is the second most expensive player in the world in terms of combined transfer fees paid with a total value of nearly $140 million US.

For someone who has played for some of the most historical, successful clubs in the world, Anelka sure knows how to rub his employers and teammates the wrong way. The longest he's ever stayed at one team is three seasons (Manchester City). You can't argue with his goal-scoring record; he's a prolific striker, but his problem is that wherever he goes, he's a cancer in the locker room/dressing room/changing room, whatever you want to call it.

In the NFL, a league known for its primadonna wide receivers and defensive backs, two players immediately stand out to be the same type of guy as Anelka. Mr. "I play when I want to play" Randy Moss, and Mr. "Get your popcorn ready, it's gonna be a show" Terrell Owens. Both of these guys are incredible, almost superhuman athletes; both have the talent to end up in the Hall of Fame as two of the best receivers to ever play the game of football, period. Both have already set numerous NFL records and with the way they're playing now, more will continue to fall when they're still playing.

Nicolas Anelka, Randy Moss, and Terrell Owens. When you keep them happy and they're interested, these guys all produce and are or very near the best at their positions in their respective sports. When they're disgruntled or their team is losing or they're not getting the ball enough, they start whining and become guys you simply don't want to have on your team, regardless of how naturally gifted they are.

In Anelka's case, you can't argue with a goal every three games, which is his average over his career. What you can find fault in is his inability to grow up and mature and be part of a team because his behavior has a direct correlation with how the players on the field with him perform, and it's the same for Moss and Owens. Right now, Moss and Owens are in a good situation where their teams are winning and they're getting the ball, so they can't complain. Anelka, however, is scoring but his team isn't winning; Bolton, despite their huge win today, may be relegated at the end of the season. The biggest question, then, is this: Will he, like Randy Moss, who basically campaigned his way out of Oakland last year where the team was awful and he was simply disinterested, and like T.O., who left Philadelphia two seasons ago on bad terms and joined their rival in Dallas so he could burn them when the two teams played, try and leave Bolton for a better team in January? For Bolton's sake, hopefully not.

Season Summaries--18. Bolton

18. Bolton Wanderers (My preseason prediction: 9th)

Wow, talk about a team that I overestimated. To be honest, I wasn't aware just how much a manager means to a team and Sam Allardyce's departure for Newcastle has left Bolton in a huge rut. The current squad is comprised of largely the same group of players that played for Allardyce the last few seasons, when they finished in the top 8, but an awful 14-game stint (end of last season, start of this season) cost Sammy Lee his managerial post and now Gary Megson is in charge. Megson has proven that he's a good Championship and lower league-caliber manager, but he can't cut it in the Premiership.

Bolton have also yet to win away from Reebok Stadium this season (2 draws, 4 losses), and with star striker Nicholas "Le Sulk" Anelka probably set to move to bigger and better things in the January transfer window, this club will be in big trouble because no one else can score goals regularly. It really doesn't get any easier in the near future either, with games against Manchester United, Liverpool, and Manchester City in the next four rounds of Premiership matches. Bolton's one hope this season, as it doesn't look good for them to stay up, is to have success in the UEFA Cup, where they've picked up two draws in two group games. They're in a group with Bayern Munich (they picked up a crucial point in Munich on the 8th), Sporting Braga, Thessaloniki, and Red Star Belgrade. You have to like their chances to reach the knockout stages of this competition, but their main focus really needs to be on Premiership survival.

Premiership Preview--9. Bolton

9. Bolton narrowly held off Reading, Portsmouth, Blackburn, and Aston Villa last season to claim 7th place and the automatic UEFA Cup spot that comes with it. It was their fourth consecutive top 8 finish under manager Sam Allardyce, but there's a new era at the Reebok Stadium. Allardyce resigned on April 29 and signed on to manage Newcastle just over two weeks later. His assistant manager, Sammy Lee, took over for the last two games of the season and after a debut loss to West Ham escaped with a 2-2 tie against Aston Villa, enough for the club to finish in 7th. This will be Sammy Lee's first full season as a manager of any club, Premiership or otherwise. Fortunately for him, Sam Allardyce didn't leave the cupboard bare and management went out and signed several good players this summer.

Bolton have done the best they can to improve their club in this transfer window. Their only major loss was center back Tal Ben Haim's departure for Chelsea, but Jlloyd Samuel should be able to fill that void adequately. Midfielders Danny Guthrie, Gavin McCann, Mikel Alonso, and Christian Wilhelmsson are all much younger than the ancient players Bolton used in that capacity last year (Ivan Campo, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Gary Speed), and Bolton will be the better for using some of those new younger players for the pace and energy they bring to the table. Bolton's real problem, and one they tried to address by bringing in Heidar Helguson from Fulham, is a lack of explosiveness from their strikers. It's almost a one man show with Nicholas Anelka, but he may yet be on the way out before the summer ends. El-Hadji Diouf isn't the player Liverpool and Bolton thought he would be after his coming out performance for Senegal in the 2002 World Cup, and Ricardo Vaz Te is still unproven at the age of 20. If Anelka leaves, Bolton will be in desperate need for goals with no real options to turn to.

Bolton starts the Premiership season with 8 winnable games in a row, with the toughest test being a trip to Fratton Park to play Portsmouth. October is considerably tougher with Chelsea and Aston Villa coming to the Reebok sandwiched around an away game at Arsenal. All three of their games in February are against UEFA Cup spot contenders in Reading (away), Portsmouth (home), and Blackburn (away). A home game with Liverpool comes the week after the match at Ewood Park, followed by a trip to Manchester to take on the defending champions. 3 of the last 4 games of the season are away, including games at Tottenham and Chelsea.

Bottom Line: While this is a club that has better players than the team that finished 7th last season, their manager is not nearly on the same level as Sam Allardyce. Sammy Lee's inexperience will be the main cause for Bolton's lower finish this season, and a streak of four straight top 8 finishes will come to an end.

Roundup of Recent Friendlies

•Manchester City-3, Doncaster-1
•Manchester City-4, Orgryte-1
•Manchester City-2, Shrewsbury-0
•Manchester City-0, Valencia-1
•Arsenal-2, Barnet-0
•Arsenal-3, Genclerbirligi-0
•Arsenal-0, SV Salzburg-1
•Arsenal-2, Paris Saint-Germain-1 (Emirates Cup)
•Arsenal-2, Inter Milan-1 (Emirates Cup; Arsenal wins Emirates Cup)
•Arsenal-2, Lazio-1 (Amsterdam Tournament)
•Liverpool-3, Crewe-0
•Liverpool-3, Werder Bremen-2
•Liverpool-2, Auxerre-0
•Liverpool-3, South China-1 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Liverpool-2, Shanghai Shenhua-0 (Port of Rotterdam Tournament)
•Liverpool-1, Feyenoord-1
•Bolton-2, Chivas Guadalajara-0 (Peace Cup)
•Bolton-2, Racing Santander-1 (Peace Cup)
•Bolton-0, Lyon-1 (Peace Cup Final, Bolton wins Peace Cup)
•Bolton-3, Espanyol-0
•Reading-0, River Plate-1 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-1, Lyon-0 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-1, Shimizu S-Pulse-0 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-6, Brentford-1
•Reading-3, Wolverhampton-2
•Portsmouth-2, Yeovil-0
•Portsmouth-2, Havant & Waterlooville-0
•Portsmouth-1, Eastleigh-0
•Portsmouth-1, Fulham-0 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Portsmouth-0, Liverpool-0 (Portsmouth wins on PK’s, Barclays Asia Trophy Final)
•Portsmouth-4, Bournemouth-1
•Portsmouth-3, Leicester City-1
•West Ham-2, Dagenham and Redbridge-0
•West Ham-1, Leyton Orient-1
•West Ham-2, MK Dons-3
•West Ham-3, Southend United-1
•West Ham-2, AC Roma-1
•Chelsea-2, Club America-1 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, Suwon Bluewings-0 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, LA Galaxy-0 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, Feyenoord-1
•Chelsea-0, Rangers-2
•Chelsea-2, Brondby-0
•Middlesbrough-0, FC Schalke-3
•Middlesbrough-1, Burnley-1
•Middlesbrough-2, Darlington-0
•Manchester United-2, Urawa Red Diamonds-2
•Manchester United-4, FC Seoul-0
•Manchester United-6, Shenzhen Jianlibao-0
•Manchester United Reserves-2, Port Vale-3
•Manchester United-3, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical-0
•Manchester United-2, Inter Milan-3
•Manchester United-2, Doncaster-0
•Manchester United-3, Glentoran-0
•Manchester United-4, Dunfermline-0
•Newcastle-3, Hartlepool-1
•Newcastle-1, Carlisle United-1
•Newcastle-4, Celtic-1
•Newcastle-0, Hull City-1
•Newcastle-2, Juventus-0
•Newcastle-1, Sampdoria-0
•Fulham-1, Dagenham & Redbridge-0
•Fulham-4, South China-1 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Fulham-1, QPR-2
•Sunderland-2, Darlington-0
•Sunderland-4, Galway United-0
•Sunderland-1, Juventus-1
•Tottenham-2, Kaizer Chiefs-1
•Tottenham-2, Orlando Pirates-1
•Tottenham-3, Orlando Pirates-0 (Tottenham wins Vodacom Challenge Trophy)
•Tottenham-4, Leyton Orient-2
•Tottenham-2, Torino-0
•Everton-0, Real Salt Lake-2
•Everton-4, Ventura County Fusion (PDL)-0
•Everton-2, Werder Bremen-2
•Everton-0, Crystal Palace-0
•Aston Villa-4, Toronto FC-2
•Aston Villa-3, Columbus Crew-1
•Aston Villa-2, Stoke City-0
•Aston Villa-3, Inter Milan-0
•Wigan Athletic-2, Blackpool-1
•Wigan Athletic-2, Barnsley-0
•Wigan Athletic-2, Leeds United-1
•Derby County-2, Nottingham Forest-0 (Derby County wins inaugural Brian
Clough Trophy)
•Derby County-2, Espanyol-2
•Blackburn-1, Huddersfield-2
•Blackburn-3, Preston North End-0
•Birmingham-3, Peterborough-0

Note: Premiership team listed first, NOT home team

Tal Ben Haim Spurns Newcastle, Heads to Chelsea

After making 110 appearances for Bolton over three seasons, 25-year old Israeli defender Tal Ben Haim has agreed to personal terms on a four-year contract with Chelsea. Ben Haim rejected the outreaches of former manager Sam Allardyce to join the Blues at Stamford Bridge instead, and one can't help but second-guess this choice.

The best move for him as a player seemingly would've been to go to Newcastle because he would have immediately been plugged into their center of defense and gotten a start nearly every game. Chelsea already have their captain and England's captain John Terry in the same position, so you know he won't often come out of the lineup, talented Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho, and Brazilian international Alex, who featured prominently in the central defense for PSV Eindhoven for the past three seasons. At best, I can see Ben Haim fighting for second-choice at that position.

Of course, that would mean a starting spot, but he would probably be in a rotation with Carvalho and to a lesser extent, Alex. Chelsea most likely offered Ben Haim more money than Newcastle, but for me, it would have had to be a substantial amount more because I would rather start every game and make less money than play for a team where I may not play all the time but make more money.

Here is Chelsea's official press release concerning the move:
http://www.chelseafc.com/xxchelsea180706/index.html#/page/Homepage/article_1053189

Mark Viduka, Joey Barton to Newcastle; Ben Haim as well?

Updating the previous post, Mark Viduka has signed a 2-year contract to play for Newcastle with an option for a third year. He becomes the fourth notable striker on Tyneside (along with Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, and Shola Ameobi) and in my mind has to be either second or third in the pecking order there.

A deal for Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton is in the works as well and only an "admininstrative hitch" is holding the official transfer up. Barton is out of favor with the Blues and has agreed to an $11 million US switch and change of scenery. When his mind is right, the 24-year old can be a dynamic player and would be an immediate upgrade for the Magpies. He has plenty of talent but struggles to restrain his temper and his mouth, spouting off to teammates, opponents, and the media alike. If Sam Allardyce can rein Barton in, he will be getting a young player who can make a significant impact for his team.

Sam Allardyce's former Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim is also rumored to join Newcastle. He is out-of-contract with the Wanderers and the Israeli center back has drawn furious interest from Allardyce. At just 25 years of age Ben Haim still hasn't entered his prime as a player yet but has already made 88 Premier League appearances and would immediately be inserted into Newcastle's rather weak back line.

For the complete story regarding these three players, see

http://www.premierleague.com/fapl.raccommand=setSelectedId&nextPage=enNewsLatest&id=1815954&type=com.fapl.website.news.NewsItem&categoryCode=NewsLatestFAPremierLeagueNews

Mark Viduka to Play on Tyneside?

After spurning interest from West Ham, Birmingham, and Portsmouth, the 31-year old striker has agreed in principle to join Newcastle. Young Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate seems to have been unable to persuade Viduka to return to the Riverside next season and after a year of intense interest in the Australian forward, Newcastle appears to have landed his services.

He would become the first major signing of new manager Sam Allardyce, who seems to have an affection for older, veteran players (pretty much the entire Bolton roster that he put together). Viduka's goal-scoring production went up drastically this year (14 in 29 Premier League games) compared to the two seasons prior (12 in 43 Premier League games) and Newcastle would hope for a repeat performance. I find this to be unlikely as strikers, more so than other positions, tend to decline quickly with age, and I don't know if the supporting cast around him at Newcastle this year would be better than the one he had at Middlesbrough. If the deal becomes completed, it would have more of a repuation-based tint to it than anything else, but we'll see.

The complete story can be found here: http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6888688