Liverpool beat Unirea Urziceni 3-1 in Bucharest last night in their Europa League match with goals from Javier Mascherano, Ryan Babel and Steven Gerrard.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez made two changes two his side that drew 0-0 with Man City at Eastlands on Sunday, bringing in Yossi Benayoun to replace cup-tied Maxi Rodriguez and young French striker David N’gog was given a start, replacing Dirk Kuyt.
It was the home side who had the first attempt, with Sorin Frunza seeing his shot from just outside the box fizz over the bar after Liverpool had failed to deal with an Unirea free-kick.
However Liverpool were quick to respond with captain Steven Gerrard forcing Unirea goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis to make a save.
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Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge will face John Terry for the first time time this Saturday at Stamford Bridge since the fall-out from Terry’s alleged affair with his ex-girlfriend. He has also stated that he does not wish to be chosen for the England World Cup squad.
Bridge released a statement through his lawyers on Thursday, confirming that he does not wish to be selected for Fabio Capello’s squad for this year’s World Cup in South Africa because his presence would be potentially “divisive”.
The former Chelsea left-back has been considering his international future since reports of Terry’s affair with his former partner Vanessa Perroncel, a French underwear model with whom he has a four-year-old child, first came to light.
Terry was stripped of the England captaincy by Capello as a result of the scandal and the Italian had thought Bridge would continue to play for his country.
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Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League was cut to one point on Wednesday when they lost 2-1 at Everton with Louis Saha continuing his scoring jinx over them.
Second-placed Manchester United drew 1-1 at Aston Villa while Arsenal stayed in the hunt after beating Liverpool 1-0.
Saha, who scored against Chelsea in the FA Cup final last season and in the 3-3 draw against them in December, cancelled out Florent Malouda’s 17th minute opener for Chelsea with a header in the 33rd.
He then had a penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on the stroke of halftime before scoring the winner after 75 minutes when he chested the ball down, turned and fired home.
That sent Chelsea to their first defeat in 11 matches and gave Everton manager David Moyes his first victory over the London side on the night he celebrated his 300th Premier League game.
Chelsea remain top with 58 points, but are just one point ahead of Manchester United, who drew at Villa despite playing for more than an hour with 10 men after Nani was sent off for a ragged two-footed challenge on Stilian Petrov.
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According to Cadena Ser Radio in Spain Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal captain and star midfielder, has struck a verbal agreement with Barcelona to join the Champions League Champions next season.
“There is a firm agreement between Barca and Cesc Fabregas even if it is only verbal,” the Spanish station reported without citing its sources.
“Several meetings have taken place and, following those meetings, Cesc told Barca that he wanted to rejoin them from next season,” it added.
Cadena Ser said the deal would be subject to agreeing a fee with Arsenal.
The reigning Spanish champions have neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Fabregas, a 22-year-old Spanish international, is Arsenal’s top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions this season and is under contract with the Gunners until 2014.
But his future has once again been the subject of much speculation this season and media reports have consistently linked him with a return to La Liga.
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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that the derby win over Everton over the weekend was just the right medicine to kick start their stuttering season.
The Reds won local bragging rights at Anfield on Saturday as Dirk Kuyt’s close-range header 10 minutes after half-time proved the difference.
Gerrard was happy with all three points and the team’s [...]
Chelsea are back at the top of the table and Arsenal are now nine points adrift from the top, thanks to Didier Drogba’s two goals last night in Chelsea’s 2 - 0 win over the Gunners.
The Ivory Coast forward scored both goals inside 23 minutes, and Chelsea then successfully contained Arsenal at Stamford Bridge despite [...]
Jermain Defoe of Tottenham Hotspur scored a hat-trick at Elland Road to help Harry Redknapp’s side overcome Leeds and book a place in the FA Cup fifth round with a 3-1 win on Wednesday.
England striker Defoe missed a host of good chances but still managed to come up trumps for the Premier League side with strikes [...]
Didier Drogba celebrated his return from the African Cup of Nations by scoring his 20th goal for Chelsea against Hull City last night, saving at least a point from the match.
Hull centre-back Steven Mouyokolo headed the Barclays Premier League strugglers in front, but Drogba, in his first Blues match for a month, snared a point [...]
Manchester United humbled Arsenal yesterday by beating them 3 - 1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Naniforced Manuel Almunia to concede an own goal before setting up Wayne Rooney for a second. Park Ji-Sungscored early in the second half to end the game as a contest. Thomas Vermaelen volleyed home a consolation for Arsenal in the 80th minute.
Arsenal had started brightly, and Andrey Arshavin [...]
Egypt looks on course to win their record seventh title as they crushed Algeria in the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations.
Egypt assistant coach Chaouki Gharib said: “We’ve played against three World Cup qualifiers in our five matches here, we’ve beaten them all and scored ten goals against all of them.
“It’s thanks to our [...]
