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It’s Premier League match time at Bloomfield Road with Blackpool due to host Sunderland in a second leg encounter on January 22, in match week 24.

The first leg meeting between the sides, hosted by Sunderland, at the Stadium of Light, on December 29, was won by the Seasiders, 2-0. Ian Holloway’s squad were relatively well-rested, with two home matches having been called off owing to snow.

Steve Bruce’s men dominated a game they should have won, but they did not score on the »33″ chances they got, and Blackpool scored twice in the few opportunities that came their way. Campbell put Tangerines ahead on 50 minutes, and got a second goal in the ninetieth, to close out a famous win. Vaughan was outstanding in central midfield for Blackpool, on the day.

Steve Bruce opted to go with three strikers, Gyan, Bent and Wellbeck but to no avail as the first half saw a solitary shot on the Blackpool goal by Henderson. Blackpool showed a lot of imagination going forward and they were aided by some incisive passing. Steve Bruce tried everything he could to change the course of the game and his introduction of Malbranque nearly paid off. Kingson had an outstanding day between the Blackpool posts as he denied clear opportunities to Cattermole and Bent.

Head to head, the sides have met just once in the league, in their first leg meeting that Blackpool won.

Of their last 10 league games, Blackpool have won 3, while losing 4 and drawing the rest. Sunderland have won 4 of their last 10, while drawing and losing 3 each.

Tenth placed Blackpool have won 3 of 8 games hosted this season, while drawing 2 and losing 3. sixth placed Sunderland have won just 2 of their games on the road, while drawing 5 and losing 4.

Blackpool are coming off a 3-2 loss away at West Brom. Sunderland drew 1-1 with Newcastle in their home game in match week 23.

On current form, we can expect a hard-fought game, with the visitors holding a slight edge.

Blackpool’s starting eleven against West Brom comprised Kingson, Eardley, Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey, Vaughan, Adam, Grandin, Taylor-Fletcher, Campbell and Varney. Baptiste, Ormerod and Phillips played as substitutes.

Sunderland had the following men in their starting eleven against Newcastle: Gordon, Onuoha, Bramble, Ferdinand, Bardsley, Elmohamady, Henderson, Richardson, Malbranque, Gyan and Bent. Colback and Zenden were used as substitutes.

Premier League match time comes to the Emirates when Arsenal host Man City on Wednesday, January 5, 2011, in match week 22.

The two met earlier in the season when City hosted Gunners at the City of Manchester on October 24, 2010, with Wenger’s men emerging 3-0 winners in a hopelessly one-sided affair.

The game began cruelly for City as Boyata got sent off on five minutes after the Belgian teenage defender brought down Chamakh. Chamakh had cashed in on a pass from Fabregas, following a lapse in Boyata’s concentration.

And when 15 minutes later, Nasri gave Arsenal the lead, there was only going to be one winner, as 10-man City looked increasingly fatigued, burdened with the task of stopping a rampaging Arsenal forward line.

To his credit, Mancini tried out his whole bag of tricks to pull something out of the game. He started by taking Yaya Toure into the back-line, and later decided that he was needed more in midfield and brought Boateng into the core of the back-line, while Barry also retreated to left-back.

To Gunners’ credit they played a tactical game, tiring out Man City, even as they sought to add to the score. And their ploy paid off as Song, just after the hour, and Bendtner, with two minutes of regulation time to run, made City pay an exorbitant price for Boyata’s lapse.

Man City are currently in second place in the points table behind Man United. Arsenal are in third but have played one game fewer than City, and are two points adrift.

The Gunners have won 6 of 9 games hosted at the Emirates, while losing the remaining 3. Man City have had one of the best away records this season; Mancini’s charges have won 6 of 10 games on the road, while losing and drawing 2 games each.

Arsenal have had a dominant 15-3 record against Man City in the last 20 league meetings between the sides, with the remaining two games drawn. Incidentally, all of Man City’s 3 wins have come in the last four years.

With both sides having emerged as serious title contenders, this promises to be a thrilling encounter. While Arsenal have been very effective in attack, their back-line has been found wanting. Man City appear to be a more well-rounded side with the dependency on Tevez to score goals reduced in recent matches. The battle could be won in midfield, where a fit Fabregas could help compensation for Gunners’ porous defence.

The following men comprised Arsenal’s starting eleven against Wigan, in match week 20: Fabianski, Eboue, Squillaci, Koscielny, Sagna, Diaby, Rosicky, Denilson, Bendtner, Chamakh and Arshavin. Walcott, Nasri and Wilshere featured as substitutes.

Man City had the following players in their starting eleven against Aston Villa in match week 20: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Y Toure, De Jong, Vieira, Johnson, Balotelli and Silva. Milner, Jo and Bridge played as substitutes.

The English Premier League is the most-watched League in the entire world, with an estimated following of over 100 million viewers world-wide and an annual turnover exceeding £2billion. The English Premier League which officially kicked off on the 15th of August 1992 has remained the pace-setters in terms of players transfer fees, players’ monthly wages and bonuses.

In Africa, Super sports were the sole proprietorship owner of Premier League matches with coverage area limited to the shores of Africa. There have been a steady influx of African and non-British footballers into the Premier League over the past ten years. The present figure of non-British footballers stands at over 260. Africa presently has over 40 players in the top flight Premier League and a significant number in the lower division of the English League.

John Mikel Obi(Nigeria)

This Chelsea Midfielder has become an integral part of Chelsea’s first team with some sterling performance over the past four seasons.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto(Cameroon)

He plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the top flight English Premier League. A left full back of immense talent and experience, he has remain a regular in Tottenham Champions League Campaign in 2010.

Alexandre Song(Cameroon)

Alexandre Song is a midfielder with Arsenal Football Club under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger. He has improved in terms of goal-scoring and work-rate over the past two seasons.

Christopher Samba(Congo)

This big Congolese center back has been the secret behind Blackburn Rovers success over the years. He is very strong in the air and has scored a couple of goals from dead ball situations.

Michael Essien(Ghana)

The Ghanaian captain who plays in the defensive midfield position for Chelsea has become a super-regular in Carlo Ancelloti’s side this season. He has excellent defensive and attacking skills.

Bejani Mwaruwari(Zimbabwe)

This prolific striker whose speed and persistence remains his key asset remains a solid performer whenever he is given the opportunity to play. He presently plies his trade with Blackburn Rovers.

Emmanuel Adebayor(Togo)

The gangling Togolese striker has seen his appearance under Coach Roberto Mancini dwindle tremendously. He has however proved to be a lethal finisher in front of goal in the Europa League. He plays for title hopefuls- Manchester City.

Steven Pienaar(South Africa)

Steven Pienaar has had to endure an injury prone season in the color of Everton F.C in the English top flight league. He is an attacking midfielder of repute, scoring crucial goals for the Toffees.

It’s Premier league match time, as Fulham are set to host Aston Villa at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon in match week eleven.

Fulham are fresh from their 2-0 win over Wigan in match week ten. The win took the Cottagers up to 10th potition on the points table, while Aston Villa are four places below them following a goalless draw against Birmingham last week.

While Clive Demspey struck twice for Mark Hughes’ side, Hangeland and Gera missed goals they should have scored, while Salcido and Dembele were others who played outstandingly on the day. dempsey’s important to Mark Hughes’ side is underscored b the fact that he has been instrumental

Ahead of the match against Fulham, Aston Villa have suffered a blow in the form of Heskey’s knee injury that will keep the striker out of action on Saturday. The injury suffered during training could require a month to heal and Heskey is likely to undergo surgery.

John Carew could take Heskey’s place in the absence of Agbonlahor who is yet to recover from a groin injury. Nathan Delfouneso, Villa’s under-19 striker, is also fit, but is unlikely to make it to the first eleven, ahead of Carew.

Full-back Habib Beye is likely to make a comeback to the squad following his return to match fitness from an ankle injury suffered against Burnley in the Carling Cup, a game that Villa won. Houllier will have to choose between Beye and Luke Young as he finalises his starting eleven for the match. Mark Alrighton is also poised to return to the Aston Villa starting eleven in the weekend game against Fulham.

Fulham under Mark Hughes have been hard to beat. However, Aston Villa’s past record against the Cottagers is excellent and Fulham have manged to win just three of their eighteen Premier League encounters against the Villans. But, on the negative side, Villans have tasted defeat in five of their last six away matches.

Fortunately for Fulham, apart from Senderos and Zamora they have no injury worries ahead of the match; For Evrton the list of injured players is much longer and has Carew, L Young, Delph, Petrov, Heskey and Agbonlahor.

Houllier’s charges will particularly miss Agbonlahor especially as the striker scored thrice against the Cottagers in last years two Premier League encounters. However, the Villans are in the middle of a goal draught of sorts, having gone 344 minutes without a goal in the Premiership. Bookmakers favour a Fulham win.

Fulham’s first eleven in the game against Wigan comprised: Schwarzer, Baird, Hangeland, Hughes, Salcido, Davies, Murphy, Greening, Dempsey, Gera, Dembele

The substitutes who featured in the game were: Dikgacoi, Johnson

The following players were in Aston Villa’s starting eleven against Aston Villa: Friedel, Young, Dunne, Colins, Clark, Downing, Rio-Coker, Sidwell, warnock, Young, Heskey

The substitutes who played were: Bannan, Carew