I feel like I'm back in high school, fixating my eyes on the fittest birds in my physics class. Arsenal's youngsters are at it again, this time slaying Zaki and his Wigan squad. 
The Gunners' oldest player on the pitch was 23-year old goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. An interesting fact (perhaps you could submit that fact for your chance to win a free Arsenal jersey). Click to continue reading...

Bargain of the season? In a week when the whole world is going Bond mad, I'd like to draw attention to my favourite Bond line ever from You Only Live Twice. Click to continue reading...

This weekend we were graced with another very entertaining and competitive Premier League weekend. At this rate, we're well on course for one of the most exciting Premier League seasons in recent memory. Here are ten reasons why: No more Derby County. The three promoted teams already have equaled or exceeded the number of points that [. Click to continue reading...

For a town more accustomed to the wing exploits of Martin Offiah, Wigan's been treated to some great football in the last few years. Since promotion to the top flight in 2005 Wigan Athletic have battled through tough matches, pie jokes and countless accusations of clogging to establish themselves as a Premier League club – [. Click to continue reading...

Let's preview Gameweek 11 - analyzing (1) the best "Real life" premier league fixture, (2) the most fantasy friendly EPL matchup, and (3) Fantasy Premier League "studs" and "duds."
I.  Liverpool @ Tottenham: Can 'Arry Redknapp's man management style really turn Tottenham's season around? In the U. Click to continue reading...

Must... leave... pitch... but... too...hard Wigan striker Amr Zaki took defeat against Aston Villa pretty hard on Sunday. He wandered around the pitch aimlessly as his team-mates returned to the dressing room to be prodded by Steve Bruce's chubby index finger. The Egyptian then lost the ability to walk and was halfway towards a William Gallas-style sit-in [. Click to continue reading...

Not that they're the same player. They're not even from the same confederation. But here's what Yasser Al-Qahtani has in common with Amr Zaki: both have crazy good international goalscoring records. Zaki's is an impressive 29 goals in 44 games for Egypt, while Al-Qahtani's strike rate with Saudi Arabia is currently a ridiculous 46 goals [. Click to continue reading...

Predictably brilliant to watch that is. Seems like every weekend Werder Bremen serve up a multi-goal caserole for all to enjoy in the Bundelsiga, while Liverpool put together a last minute comeback cake in the Premier League. Slightly odd cooking metaphors aside, they both did it again today: Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund duked out a 3-3 [. Click to continue reading...

What have we learnt...

1. I do have a crystal ball =X
2. Daniel Agger would make a good winger or midfielder.
3. Our opponents should be careful the next time they score against us first.
4. Once again, we have won the hard way, but we have what it takes to be serious title contender.

Click to continue reading...

Last time these 2 teams met at Anfield, it ended in a 1-1 draw. Fernando Torres drew first blood 4 minutes into second half, but Titus Bramble spoiled our party with his 80th minute equalizer.

This time round, there is no El Nino up front. Wigan, on the other hand, has the bulldozer from Egypt, who is on loan, and yet already joint top scorer in the league (with Nando and Defoe), and who is already likened to Alan Shearer (go figure)

And let's not forget, we are without God.

Click to continue reading...

The Confederation of African Football named its shortlist of five for 2008 African Footballer of the Year yesterday, and Didier Drogba's name was on there. Problem is: Didier Drogba wants nothing to do with the award. Seems odd to not want to be named the best player in your confederation, but Drogba has his reasons: After [. Click to continue reading...

var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5316986-2");
pageTracker._trackPageview();

The (fantasy) international break is upon us. While you dream of World Cup 2010 qualification glory for your US, England, or Germany, I sit in my office working on mobile phones but dreaming of being out on the pitch with bags of skill like this guy, Didier Drogba. Click to continue reading...

var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
Only 3 early games to take in today as Manchester United and Blackburn are set to kick-off any minute. Click to continue reading...

While the Bulgarian stock exchange has seen its value plummet a la the US stock market, Bulgaria's greatest footballing export Dimitar Berbatov seems headed in the opposite direction.
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-5316986-2");
pageTracker._trackPageview();

The expensive Manchester United striker opened his Champions League account today netting twice in United's 3-0 away win in Denmark. Click to continue reading...

Givanildo aka Hulk: Hulk Smash

My thesis is that the lack of inches on the Arsenal defense bemoaned by Wenger and Toure is a convenient excuse for the generally brain dead defending that sunk us so badly against Hull. In short we are freaked. Seriously, I hope this nonsense is not being internalized by the club players because it does not bode well.

Click to continue reading...

Tottenham lose (is that news?) 2-0 to Portsmouth, credit Jermain Defoe with a goal and essentially an assist on Peter Crouch's.

Manchester City lose 2-1 to Wigan. Anyone surprised that they appear to be super schizophrenic? Amr Zaki with another goal. That's tied for an EPL best with 4, I think. Click to continue reading...

Amr Zaki is proving to be the "thinking out of the box" player that Wenger prefers. With a nice affordable price tag.

He is on loan to Wigan and it is because of his performance that pundits suspect that Wigan are better than they look. Steve Bruce is all praise for the EPL's top scorer.

Click to continue reading...

The number of days that Wigan striker Amr Zaki will be a Wigan Athletic player are numbered. Even when the Egyptian ends his loan spell and becomes a Wigan player, it's only a matter of time before a massive club signs one of the brightest, most talented players the Premier League has seen in years. Click to continue reading...

A few player thoughts as the fantasy premier league pundits continue to offer our satisfaction guaranteed or your money back fantasy premier league tips and suggestions...

While the US has not yet agreed on a $700B bailout plan, we warned you (and begged you) to select Cristiano Ronaldo as the $14M bailout plan in your side.

Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you learn that honesty is always the best policy... Some brief love for Ji-Sung Park (Man Utd Offside) Raul really likes playing for Madrid (The Spoiler) Amr Zaki - unsurprisingly good (Kornheiser's Cartel) Balls through the ages (Football Filter Blog)* The future of Dutch football (Netherlands WCB) Man City - poorer than advertised (The Run of Play) Ten [. Click to continue reading...

So that's what the top of the table feels like. On to the games...

Arsenal 3-1 Bolton -- Man the Gunners played some beautiful soccer on Saturday. 21 shots, 17 corners, 70% of possession. Turns out they were Jekyll this weekend and are now on top of the EPL standings. Kevin Cyril Davies (14') had the goal for Bolton, before three straight by Emmanuel Eboue (offside, 26'), Nicklas Bendtner (27') and Denilson (87'). Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: Antoine Sibierski (Norwich, loan), Carlo Nash (Everton), Rachid Bouaouzan (NEC Nijmegen, loan), Marlon King (Hull City, loan), David Cotterill. Click to continue reading...

Photo from the Telgraph via the AP.

First batch of match reviews from the past weekend. The final batch will be up tomorrow morning. Note there won't be a second full match review as I was unable to see Sunderland v Manchester City in full.

Everton v Portsmouth: Jermain Defoe's two goals and assist see Portsmouth go away and get an emphatic 3-0 victory at Goodison Park.

Click to continue reading...

Soccerword's Premiership Team of the Week - 03

We're going with a 4-3-3 formation for this week's team:

Goalkeeper: David James (Portsmouth)

Defenders: Callum Davenport (West Ham), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Kolo Toure (Arsenal), Vedran Corluka (Man City)

Midfielders: Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Antonio Valencia (Wigan), Stephen Ireland (Man City)

Forwards: Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Amr Zaki (Wigan)

Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: Rachid Bouaouzan (NEC Nijmegen, loan), Marlon King (Hull City, loan), David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: Marlon King (Hull City, loan), David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent (Charlton). Heskey not leaving for. Click to continue reading...

Amr Zaki is the breakaway leader in the early stages of the FF season for Top Striker. And at only £6.2m he represents good value indeed; he is playing every minute, has 3 goals and 1 assist to his name, and perhaps more importantly is proving to be a bonus point magnet. He has earned a bonus point every week for the first three weeks, and enviable achievement that is unmatched by any other player. Click to continue reading...

Bruce...the full gamut of human emotion

Premiership -- We got a welcome early opportunity to witness the Steve Bruce Incredulous Face on MotD after Wigan's defeat at West Ham. He claimed that even Hammers' fans would admit that his side had been superior and, for once, his assertion was justified. Click to continue reading...

Koumas...please don't shoot

2007/8 Review

Wigan struggled for goals last season. Marcus Bent scored just seven but he was their runaway top marksman, no-one else netted more than four. Defensively, Wigan did just enough to ensure survival, managing to contain most teams and getting Chris Kirkland through a season (almost) injury free for the first time since the dawn of time. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you wait for your church to inflate... Nice collection of off the line clearances (Soccer Training Info) Women's Olympic Soccer 2008: day one (From a Left Wing) Financial trouble at Man City? (Man City Offside) Another piece of the Comcast Olympic soccer puzzle (Sports NW) David Beckham's got the horn* (The Offside Rules) Amr Zaki profile (Egypt [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's increasingly impressive unbeaten pre-season run was stretched to seven games against Valerenga in Oslo - but they suffered the worrying loss of skipper Steven Gerrard.

The midfielder limped off in the first half of this comfortable 4-1 victory with what looked like a recurrence of a groin problem that has dogged him in recent weeks. Click to continue reading...

WIGAN ATHLETIC Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent (Charlton). Possibility: Marlon King (Hull City). Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent (Charlton). Possibility: Marlon King (Hull City). Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent (Charlton). Possibility: Marlon King (Hull City). Despite Steve Bruce's declaration. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough), Amr Zaki (Loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham City), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham City), Maynor Figueroa. Notable departures: David Cotterill (Sheffield United), Andreas Granqvist (Gronigen), Marcus Bent (Charlton). Possibility: Marlon King (Hull City). Despite Steve Bruce's declaration. Click to continue reading...