Berbatov: Title is two-horse race
Dimitar Berbatov is sure it will once again be Manchester United and Chelsea fighting for the Premier League title come the end of the season.
Benitez holds talks over Liverpool finances
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has held talks with the club’s managing director about the financial implications if it failed to reach the knockout round of the Champions League. Liverpool has qualified from the group stage every season since Benitez took charge five years ago and won the competition in 2005. But it now risks elimination after a draw in midweek at Lyon, and could miss out on up to 10 million pounds ($16.6 million) from UEFA.
Liverpool hold European crisis talks
• Liverpool face £10m shortfall if they fail to progress
• Benítez insists they will finish in Premier League top four
Rafael Benítez has held talks with his Liverpool bosses over the implications if the club fail to reach the last 16 of this season’s Champions League.
Discussions were also held on if the club fail to qualify for next season’s lucrative European competition.
The Liverpool manager revealed today that the club did not budget this term for anything beyond the group stages.
And Benítez insisted he was confident that financial problems next season will be avoided “because we will achieve a top four finish”.
Liverpool have never failed to reach the last 16 under Benítez’s management, but they are in grave danger of that eventuality now with qualification from Group E out of their hands after the midweek draw in Lyon.
They must hope that Lyon win their next match away to Fiorentina, and that Liverpool win their final two group games to produce the “miracle” Benítez admits they need now.
Reaching the Champions League next season is also under threat with them currently sixth in the Premier League, a point behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who are at Anfield on November 21.
Before that Liverpool face Birmingham at Anfield on Monday, needing to get their current form back on track.
Liverpool face earning £10m less from their European campaign this season if they do not reach the last 16, with another £10m lost if they do not qualify for next season’s group stages.
Benítez says: “I spoke to Christian Purslow (Liverpool’s managing director) the other day about the finances. The first thing, though, is that we have confidence we can still reach the last 16 of the Champions League this season.
“But whatever happens, the budget was done for this season based on us only qualifying for the group stages. And we did that, that is complete. Whether we can still bring in more money, we will wait and see. The commercial department is working very hard, for the next season (in Europe) it is a question of time.
“The Premier League is a long race, we must keep going. I am confident the team will finish in the top four and we are able to continue to do well in Europe, so let’s start against Birmingham with the right result. We have to do our job against Birmingham, and then I can guarantee that things will start to get easier.”
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17 min What a chance for Wolves! Milijas’ free-kick from just inside Arsenal’s half found Berra completely unmarked, six yards out and with Almunia flapping, but his header looped up like a beachball under a gust of wind and Arsenal cleared.
15 min Eduardo goes down in the box under the challenge of Berra, but there’s no strong Arsenal appeal for a penalty.
13 min “Re. 5:30pm, Marina Hyde - she is entrirely right about poppy fascism,” says David Hilmy. “As a veteran myself throughout the late 70s/80s, just as in WWII, the men who fought in the trenches did so to protect freedom and the right to choose to prefer your chips in newspaper or a Mickie-D Happy Meal, to watch footie on the Beeb or scrounge a satellite feed via Kazakhstan, or to wear a poppy or not…”
11 min Arsenal are still looking a bit sluggish and Wolves are definitely on top. Minor aisde: legendary rocker Robert Plant, who is a vice-president of Wolves, is watching today’s game.
9 min More decent play from Wolves leads to another corner. Again it’s taken by Milijas, and again a Wolves’ striker - this time Ebanks-Blake - evades his marker only to head just wide.
7 min Looking at the replay, Doyle’s header was going wide. Meanwhile Shammi Hude asks viz a viz the lack of autorefresh option (which should now be fixed): “Are your technical gremlins haunting you again or is it my dodgy internet connection in Dhaka? You lot should really think of getting in a Bangladeshi IT support crew … will work 24-7 with no holidays for a couple of quid an hour (in cash).” We’re the Guardian, Shammi, not [insert multinational of your choice here].
6 min Corner to Wolves, Doyle flicks it goalwards and Gibbs heads off the line!
4 min It’s been a lively start, although there’s a good atmosphere at Molineux too. Wolves fans are singing “In-ger-land, In-ger-land!” at Arsenal supporters. Ah, that famed black country wit …
2 min Ten seconds in and Mick McCarthy is already scowling after Wolves’ thump it out on the full from their kick off. Interestingly (ish) Wolves have made their pitch as narrow as it can possibly be in an attempt to squeeze Arsenal.
1 min After an impeccably-observed minute’s silence, ahead of Remembrance Sunday tomorrow, Wolves get things underway. Meanwhile there’s more unbridled optimism in my inbox. “If Wolves win 14-0 or more, Tottenham go third!” says Joe Gibson.
5.30pm Both teams, who have poppies embedding in their shirts, enter the pitch to a guard of honour performed by RAF servicemen. If you haven’t read it, here’s Marina Hyde on why the vitriolic campaign to bully all Premier League clubs into wearing a poppy on their shirts shames the memory of the fallen.
An email: “I see Liverpool are out to 25-1 to the Premier League,” says Richard Cox. “I know it’s wrong, but I’m tempted, I really am. Anyone else?” Well?
Teams:
Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Craddock, Berra, Zubar, Edwards, Henry, Milijas, Catillo, Ebanks-Blake, Doyle. Subs: Hahnemann, Mancienne, Kightly, Halford, Jarvis, Keogh, Maierhofer.
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Gibbs, Diaby, Fabregas, Ramsey, Arshavin, Eduardo, Van Persie. Subs: Mannone, Senderos, Silvestre, Eboue, Rosicky, Nasri, Song Billong.
Preamble Good evening everyone for what - tempting fate alert - will be a monumental goal-fest at Molineux. The stats certainly point that way, with Arsenal having kept only four clean sheets in their last 19 away matches and Wolves having scored in 15 of their previous 19 home games. It’s no surprise that Arsenal are new-boiler-hot favourites: they’ve scored 19 goals in their last six games, collecting 16 out of 18 points in the process, while Wolves are winless in five. What’s more, Wolves haven’t beat Arsenal at Molineux for 30 years.
City will jet out tomorrow for a sunshine break in Abu Dhabi in embarrassed, rather than holiday, mood after dropping two home points against homespun opponents who had previously lost every away game this season.
Leading 3-2 after 87 minutes, the money men from Eastlands were left deflated by their fifth draw in succession in the Premier League, Burnley gaining their point with a close-range finish by the substitute Kevin McDonald, a £500,000 bargain buy from Dundee.
Burnley were 2–0 up, through a Graham Alexander penalty and Steven Fletcher’s close-range strike, before a second-half revival saw City take the lead with goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kolo Touré and Craig Bellamy. It was not enough.
The return of Stephen Ireland and Emmanuel Adebayor was intended to restore them to full vigour, but it did nothing of the sort. Relegating Nigel de Jong to the bench to accommodate Ireland’s attacking potential left them short of ball-winning muscle, and Burnley took full advantage, scoring twice in the first 32 minutes. There is something of a conundrum for Mark Hughes here: does he play De Jong alongside Gareth Barry in the centre of midfield to secure the lion’s share of possession, or go for the extra creativity of Ireland or Martin Petrov?
Much more resolutely competitive than their grim away record would suggest, Burnley had already threatened through Robbie Blake when Joleon Lescott’s careless hands presented them with a penalty which, with Alexander the taker, means a certain goal. After handling Mears’s cross from the right like a line-out forward going up for the ball at Twickers, the England defender looked suitably embarrassed as Alexander beat Shay Given from 12 yards.
Bad soon became worse for City’s expensive acquisition from Everton, when he played Fletcher onside to double the margin with a tap-in from Chris Eagles’s right-wing centre. Two-nil down. City urgently needed to pull one back before half-time if they were to turn the game around.
Wright-Phillips thought he had done so, but his lob was disallowed for offside. Brian Jensen then denied Bellamy with a notable save before Wright-Phillips eventually made it 2-1 somewhat fortuitously, with a shot from 18 yards that was deflected in via Stephen Jordan’s knee.
Cue second-half drama. Scathingly appraised of their shortcomings by Hughes during the interval, City took charge, needing only 13 minutes to turn deficit into profit. Touré equalised with a shot from seven yards after Lescott had atoned for his earlier fallibility by setting up the chance, accurately transferring Barry’s long free-kick. Barely three minutes later City came charging back and Ireland’s short through-pass allowed Wright-Phillips to supply Bellamy for what City thought was the winner. How wrong they were, Fletcher’s headed knockdown was an invitation McDonald was not about to refuse.
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