Arsenal

Arsene Wenger’s side spurned a host of chances to get in front, although they may consider themselves lucky to escape the Reebok with a point after Mark Davies appeared to be fouled twice in the box late on, first by Per Mertesacker and then by Wojciech Szczesny.

The draw has left Arsenal still searching for their first league win in 2012, while they have created a five-point gap behind Chelsea who sit in fourth. A point for Owen Coyle’s side, meanwhile, sees them two clear of the relegation zone, while the Scot will be encouraged by the industrial performance of his midfield against Wenger’s charges.

It was Arsenal who dominated the early moments of the match and the visitors created two good chances to go ahead in the first 10 minutes as Robin van Persie saw his header cleared off the line, while Aaron Ramsey’s sliding effort failed to trouble Adam Bogdan.

David Ngog proceeded to show how much of a threat he could be to the Arsenal defence with two of his own efforts. His initial chance forced a commanding save from Szczesny after he turned Laurent Koscielny to open himself up to goal.

The Frenchman was not deterred and tried again after Gretar Steinsson raided down Bolton’s right flank before setting up the striker, but his shot dribbled harmlessly wide.

Arsenal responded and enjoyed possession in Bolton’s half for the majority of the half, but dogged defending from the hosts denied Wenger’s men clear-cut chances on goal.

After the break, Arsenal came out fighting and continuously ambushed the Bolton defence with crosses and passes through the middle for the waiting Van Persie. However, the hosts remained resilient at the back to stifle Wenger’s charges.

Van Persie finally had his next big chance of the game after being handed the ball just a yard out, but the Dutchman was left frustrated by his effort which hit the post and out of danger.

Bolton remained firm at the back to deny Arsenal, while Coyle’s men had the chance to steal a point as Ngog’s header from Martin Petrov’s cross struck Koscielny, who had turned his back. (Goal)

Midweek League Cup games at West Ham, Charlton and Crystal Palace have already been postponed as a result, whilst a decision has also been taken to cancel England’s international friendly at home to the Netherlands.

There is now a fear  that the impact could move onto the Premier league, with games which were expected to take place in the capital most likely to come under threat.

An opening day date between Tottenham and Everton at White Hart line is expected to be one of the most likely games to be postponed if the violence was to continue.

With the worst of the violence being centred in London, Queens Park Rangers and Fulham may be advised to also call off opening games.

It was in the areas surrounding Tottenham’s White Hart Lane where violence first broke out last Saturday night, with the club’s ticket office becoming damaged.

There is a fear for the safety of fans and players with a visibly cautious approach being taken by the police and footballing authorities through their immediate decision to delay any Carling Cup ties.

It is not just the Premier league expected to be affected though. Football league ties at Watford and Crystal Palace are also under threat if the violence on the streets cannot be contained.

UEFA added quota for England clubs for the competition. The spot will be given to the team ranked in the Respect Fair Play rankings.

Every year, UEFA provide extra quotas for three countries that ranked the best in each league. This time, it the turn of England, Norway and Sweden to have the advantage.

Currently, Tottenham is ranked number five in the Premier League standings, and on top of the Fair Play rankings. Thus, Tottenham will definitely enter the Europa League despite not finishing in the big five at the end of the season.

However, if Tottenham managed to secure fifth position, then the quota would be given to the Fair Play rankings below them which are Fulham, Blackpool, or even West Ham United who are already degraded.

Spurs’ last five games ended with just two victories. Their three latest games only produced two points from a possible nine points.

Currently, Spurs are in the top five of the table with 49 points from 29 times appearance. Spurs are four points behind Manchester City, who are currently in the last slot for the Champions League with an excess of one game.

If Spurs can win the remaining games, Redknapp still not confident that they can pass The Citizens and end up in next season’s Champions League zone.

“Most people will bet on Manchester City (to finish fourth). They are the favorites and rightfully so. I think Tottenham squad is not too big to be compared with other teams,” said Redknapp to The Sun.

“You see the resources they have, look at the money they can spend to buy players, they have a player worth 30 million euros which is not even in their starting lineup,” he said.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer denied that he will return as manager at St James’ Park, after the club sacked Chris Hughton.

The former England international striker previously spent eight games in charge of the Tyneside club as caretaker manager in April 2009, although he was unable to prevent the side being relegated to the Championship.

However, Shearer said that he is not interested in resuming his managerial career, despite Newcastle, who are back in the Premier League, are looking for a new boss, after they sacked Hughton on Monday.

“I won’t be the next Newcastle manager,” he told BBC Radio 5 live. “I can guarantee you that.”

Despite spending his playing days at St James’ Park challenging near to the top of the table, Shearer believes that the club should readjust their sights for their first season back in the top flight. As a result, he was bemused by the board’s decision to get rid of Hughton just 16 games into the season.

“I wonder to myself where they think Newcastle should be, if they think they should be higher than mid-table, because I’m not being disrespectful to the squad but they’re not going to finish in the top six or seven,” he said.

“That is not Newcastle’s season. Newcastle’s season this year should be all about staying in the Premier League.

“At this moment in time there’s no danger of them [being relegated]. For me, Chris was doing a very, very fine job.”

The 25-year-old striker has been in prolific form for the Black Forest club this season, notching a hugely impressive 10 goals in 13 encounters, and this is by no means a mere blip in the Senegalese international’s career to date.

In his first six months in the Bundesliga he achieved six goals in 16 appearances having struck eight times in as many matches for Metz in France’s Ligue 2 during the first half of last term. In the previous campaign he mustered 15 goals for les Grenats, with whom he was contracted from 2005-2009.

Such a record in front of goal has made him attractive to Cottagers boss Mark Hughes, whose side have slumped to 17th in the standings, having managed only 14 goals in their opening 14 games.

There were suggestions earlier in this week from the English media that the move could take off, and now these are being echoed on the continent.

“Owen can be played on Saturday,” said Dr Richard Steadman who performed the surgery on Hargreaves’ knee.

“Our physical therapist, Luke O’Brien, contributed to United’s coaching team in Owen’s recovery process,” he explained.

Hargreaves had a long break due to a very severe knee injury. The 29 year old midfielder has not played since September 2008.

He actually played in the final three minutes against Sunderland in May. However, his knee was injured again and had to undergo surgery at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. Steadman also did surgery on Michael Owen and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

“A long journey to return to play. However, I was impressed with Owen. He tried hard to recover and never gave up. This is a good sign for him,” said Steadman.

Hargreaves joined United from Bayern Munich in July 2007. After one season becoming an important midfield player for United, he was hit by an injury during a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in September 2008. Since then, he never played again.

Source: Goal

At least 112 million euros were spent to bring in Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Mario Balotelli, and Alexander Kolarov.While their city rivals Manchester United, only added one young Mexican star, Javier Hernandez.

Other big clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool are less ambitious in adding players from other clubs, the Gunners tend to choose talents that have not been widely recognized like Marounane Chamakh, while Liverpool only adds experienced Joe Cole from Chelsea with a free transfer.

Chelsea, who last season became the Premier League champions did not lose self-confidence to face the 2010/2011 season. The Blues did not do a massive shopping and only bought one experienced player in the Premier League, Yossi Benayoun.

Here’s a full 2010/2011 Premier League Transfer List:

Arsenal : Kyle Ebecilio (Feyenord), Laurent Koscielny (Lorient), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux).

Aston Villa: Stephen Ireland (Manchester City)

Birmingham: Enric Valles (NAC Breda), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow), Ben Foster (Manchester Utd), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona), Nikola Zigic (Valencia), Jean Beausejour (Club America), Matt Derbyshire (Olympiakos).

Blackburn: Mame Biram Diouf (Manchester Utd), Benjani ( Manchester City)

Blackpool: Matt Phillips (Wycombe).

Bolton: Robbie Blake (Burnley), Martin Petrov (Manchester City), Marcos Alonso (Real Madrid), Ivan Klasnic (Nantes), Rodrigo Moreno (Benfica)

Chelsea: Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool), Ramires (Benfica) Tomas Kalas, (Sigma Olomouc).

Everton: Jermaine Beckford (Leeds), Magaye Gueye (Strasbourg), Joao Silva (Desp. Des Aves)

Fulham: Rafik Halliche (Benfica), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Carlos Salcido (PSV), Moussa Dembele (AZ Alkmaar).

Liverpool: Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Danny Wilson (Rangers), Paul Konchesky (Fulham), Raul Meireles (Porto), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough), Iaia Embarlo ( Oldham).

Manchester City: Aleksandar Kolarov ( Lazio), Yaya Toure (arcelona), Alex Henshall (Swindon), Albert Rusnak (MFK Kosice), David Silva (Valencia), Jerome Boateng (Hertha Berlin), Mario Balotelli Inter Milan), James Milner (Aston Villa).

Manchester United: Bebe (Victoria Guimaraes), Javier Hernandez (CD Guadalajara), Chris Smalling (Fulham).

Newcastle: Hatem Ben Arfa (Olymp. Marseille), Dan Gosling (Everton), Cheik Tiote ( FC Twente), Sol Campbell (Arsenal).

Stoke City: Florent Cuvelier ( Portsmouth), Eidur Gudjohnson (Monaco), Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool), Marc Wilson (Portsmouth).

Sunderland: Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes), Simon Mignolet (Sint-Truidense), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul), Asamoah Gyan (Rennes), Danny Welbeck (Manchester Utd), Nedum Onuoha (Manchester City), Titus Bramble (Wigan Athletic).

Tottenham Hotspur: Stipe Pletikosa ( Spartak Moscow), Sandro (Internacional), William Gallas (Arsenal),

West Bromwich: Paul Scharner (Wigan Athletic), Somen Tchoyi (Red Bull Salzburg), Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow), Nicky Shorey (Aston Villa), Pablo Ibanez ( Atletico Madrid), Steven Reid ( Blackburn)

West Ham: Victor Obinna (Inter Milan), Pablo Barrera (UNAM Pumas), Thomas Hitzlsperger (Lazio), Miralem Sulejmani (Ajax), Frederic Piquionne (Lyon), Winston Reid ( FC Midtjylland), Tal Ben Haim (Portsmouth)

Wigan Athletic: Franco Di Santo (Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester Utd), James McArthur (Hamilton), Antolin Alcaraz (Club Brugge), Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes), Steven Caldwell (Burnley), Ali Al-Habsi (Bolton), Ronnie Stam (FC Twente).

Wolverhampton: Steven Mouyokolo ( Hull City) Steven Fletcher (Burnley) Jelle Van Damme (Anderlecht), Adlene Guedioura (Charleroi), Matt Doherty (Bohemians), Stephen Hunt (Hull City).