Barrie's View

Manchester United picked up an important victory in Valencia this evening to ease the pressure on their Champions League campaign, following the home draw with Glasgow Rangers in their opening group match.

This result also came following their disappointing 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers on Sunday, and without the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, whom I’ve heard claims from several opposition fans to be United’s only match winners.

Sir Alex Ferguson won the battle against his opposite number, Unai Emery on the Valencia bench. Opening the match with a 4-5-1 formation that saw Dimitar Berbatov as the sole striker, United limited Valencia’s chances mainly to crosses of which Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic dealt with throughout the game. This was Rio Ferdinand’s first competitive game of the season, following his knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup. The England captain was solid in their defence, as they kept their first clean sheet on the road this season.

Tactically Setup for Clean Sheet

Anderson played a surprising attacking midfield role, given that he has only 1 goal to his name in over 100 appearances for Manchester United. Michael Carrick looked like a liability at times, while Nani was the most creative. And it was the Portuguese winger who would tear down the right wing with 5 minutes to go, laying the ball off to substitute Federico Macheda. Macheda squared the ball to Anderson’s replacement, Javier Hernandez, who would finish smartly to bag all 3 points for the English side.

Manchester United’s five man midfield prevented Valencia from creating little down the middle, while they had no aerial threat; something that caused United problems at Bolton in their last Premier League outing. Then, with less than 15 minutes remaining, he would move into a 4-4-2 formation, seeing as Valencia had not taken the game by the scruff of the neck themselves. The attacking substitutions were spot on, as both Macheda and Hernandez combined for the winning goal.

Return to Premier League

Manchester United return to action on Saturday for their third consecutive away game (fourth if you include Carling Cup), as they go to Sunderland, a side who have held Arsenal and Liverpool in their last two games. With Wayne Rooney not likely to return from his ankle injury, it will be interesting to see if Sir Alex Ferguson starts a similar formation and if Dimitar Berbatov remains up front giving his lack of productivity in their last two games.

Victorious London Sides

Tottenham Hotspur recorded their first ever win in the Champions League this evening; a 4-1 thrashing of Steve McClaren’s former side, FC Twente. The match included a unique hat trick from Rafael van der Vaart, who missed a penalty, scored a goal and later got sent off. Roman Pavlyuchenko converted two penalties for Spurs, while Gareth Bale scored the fourth. Nacer Chadli scored in between Pavlyuchenko’s penalties for FC Twente, whom drew their opening game with Inter Milan.

Last night, Chelsea were comfortable 2-0 winners over Marseille, while Arsenal pulled off an impressive 3-1 victory in Belgrade as all four English sides are sitting pretty after their opening two group stage matches of this years Champions League.

It is easy to get carried away with early season promise of sides. While you cannot win the league in 8 games (or 6 games in Chelsea’s case), both the current leaders of the English Premier League and Championship are going to take some beating.

I’ve documented it on a number of occasions already this season, starting before a ball had even been kicked. Not even a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday has changed my opinion or even put a shadow of doubt in my mind. Chelsea are too strong for the rest of the Premier League field, and I am sure Chelsea will win the league this season. I’ve put my money where my mouth is.

Even without the absence of Frank Lampard in midfield, they will get through their next few games just fine, starting with Arsenal on Sunday. A fixture they dominated last season, Didier Drogba in particular as Chelsea done the double over their London neighbours. And while Chelsea have dropped points on just one occasion this season, Arsenal have dropped points at Liverpool, at Sunderland and at home to West Brom. Meanwhile, Manchester United have drawn all 3 of their away games so far; versus Fulham, Everton and Bolton. Chelsea will not drop as many points as those two in their corresponding fixtures.

Chelsea are currently 5/6 favourites to win the Premier League.

Drop down a division and the billionaire boys that are Queens Park Rangers have opened up a 6 point gap between themselves and second-place Cardiff City. Already with a goal difference of +20 from 8 games, Queens Park Rangers have stamped their foot on the division. 7 wins to nil, Queens Park Rangers have scored at least 2 goals in every league game so far, with only Derby County scoring past Paddy Power and taking points off the West London club.

The R’s are now in their fourth season since Bernie Ecclestone bought them in August 2007 (originally with Flavio Briatore), and Lakshmi Mittal, one of the world’s richest men, joined a few months after. Several transfers and managers since, they seem to have finally found the right combination with Neil Warnock at the helm. This summer, he bought in a wealth of experience and players he can rely on, while unearthing a hidden gem in Jamie Mackie, whom had struggled to impress previously at Plymouth Argyle.

Queens Park Rangers are well organised under Neil Warnock, with two solid banks of four that only Kris Commons and James Bailey have breached so far (apologies Port Vale fans, but you may have noticed I do not take the Carling Cup into consideration). Going forward, Mackie, Adel Taarabt, Hogan Ephraim and Tommy Smith cause defences problem, while they have target man Heidar Helguson scoring too. And once recovered from injury, Rob Hulse will be another threat for Warnock to place up front.

Although I have not seen Queens Park Rangers and the rest of the Championship sides in action as much as I have with Chelsea and the rest of the Premier League, I do see them going on to win the title this season. Under the leadership of Neil Warnock and with the potential to spend in January if need be, Queens Park Rangers may well run away with this division.

Queens Park Rangers are 6/4 to win the Championship.

A Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers double is 4.81 with Stan James.

West Bromwich Albion were the latest side to benefit from Manuel Almunia’s goalkeeping blunders and Arsenal’s inconsistency as they caused the biggest Premier League upset on Saturday with a 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Almunia can be forgiven for conceding a first half penalty against Peter Odemwingie, who’s pace was too quick for the Arsenal defence and goalkeeper, who was committed into bringing the Nigerian striker down. The Spaniard made amends by saving the weak ensuing penalty from Chris Brunt.

Arsenal’s defence was left standing by the good footwork for Jerome Thomas as he setup Peter Odemwingie for the Baggies’ opener early in the second half. You would have been wrong to think that this would have drawn a response from the Arsenal side, as they failed to create any real opportunities between the visitors opening two goals. A clever Chris Brunt back heel released Gonzalo Jara down the right. The Chilean captain’s tame effort from a wide angle appeared to be a comfortable pick up for the Arsenal goalkeeper. That wasn’t the case as Almunia allowed the ball to deflect off him and into the net. 2-0.

Horror Show

Just when you thought thing’s couldn’t get any worse for the goalkeeper of the want-to-be title contenders, Manuel Almunia rushed out of his goal trying to close down Chris Brunt, without making an attempt to win the ball, thus leaving his goal exposed. The Northern Irish winger simply cut the ball back for Jerome Thomas to knock into an unguarded net. A horror show for the goalkeeper, who is repeatedly backed by his manager. For reason’s unknown.

A late show from Samir Nasri wasn’t enough as West Brom held on for a famous victory, and one that sends them to within 1 point of the five-time Premier League champions.

Ignorance

Arsene Wenger seemingly refused to splash out on either Mark Schwarzer or Shay Given, when given the opportunity to sign two of the better goalkeepers in the league over the summer. Now left with a group of incapable goalkeepers until January at least, Arsenal’s title hopes will be all but over by then. Qualification from their Champions League group remains in tact, and their FA Cup campaign doesn’t start until January, which leaves Arsenal a possibility of winning a major trophy this season should Wenger finally open the cheque book and bring in a goalkeeper worthy of competing for the major honours.

A lot of people saw Roberto Mancini’s comments ahead of Saturday’s clash with Chelsea as “mind games” when he said Chelsea will “probably win the Premier League easy”. I took that as an honest opinion from the Italian, sharing a similar opinion with myself.

On the pitch, Manchester City got the better of Chelsea as Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game in the second half, handing Chelsea their first defeat of the season. This result didn’t come as a great upset to me, following on from last season when City did the double over the champions, with Carlos Tevez scoring in both games. This also doesn’t change my opinion of Chelsea’s title challenge, and if anything I see it taking pressure off the players now that their 100% record, and any thoughts of beating Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten record have been eliminated from the equation.

Arsenal themselves slipped up today, suffering a shock 3-2 home defeat at the hands of West Bromwich Albion. The visitors had a first half penalty save and threw away a 3-0 lead at one point, but came away with 3 points, leaving them just 1 point behind Arsenal. Chelsea face Marseille on Tuesday night in the Champions League, before hosting Arsenal in the Premier League next Sunday, where a victory would see them extend their lead to 7 points over their London neighbours, just 7 games into the season.

That’s over a week away to think about. Manchester United can close the gap to 1 point on Chelsea tomorrow by winning at Bolton. Victory is the only option for Manchester United if they want to think realistically about taking the title away from Stamford Bridge. And despite having a large sum on Chelsea to win the Premier League this season, I am hoping Manchester United pick up the 3 points tomorrow. That will then see Chelsea become odds-against for the Premier League title, where I am now confident in putting even more money on them to defend their crown.

Manchester City were setup very defensively today, with Carlos Tevez playing the loan striker role, James Milner and David Silva down either wing, and Nigel de Jong, Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry resisting making an approach into the Chelsea box. The gameplan worked, when Yaya Toure fed Carlos Tevez the ball, from which he ran uncontested at the Chelsea defence before firing home from 20 yards. Branislav Ivanovic had hit the underside of the crossbar from a corner in the first half, but Chelsea rarely failed to break down the City defence. Nicolas Anelka fired a long range effort wide, while Alex headed another chance wide. Didier Drogba’s lack of activity even resulted in him being substituted for Daniel Sturridge in the final quarter of an hour.

Roberto Mancini may have tactically outclassed his fellow countryman, Carlo Ancelotti today, but his team’s inconsistencies, that have already seen them lose at Sunderland and draw with Blackburn are what holding his team back from being Premier League champions. Today’s victory cuts the gap down to 4 points behind the current league leaders.

Despite today’s result, Chelsea are the strongest and most consistent team in the Premier League this season.

Arsenal’s search for a trophy that has being going on for five years now has been flashed in front of their face, after Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City were all knocked out of the Carling Cup last night.

Arsene Wenger’s side have been the butt of several jokes amongst the top four sides in England, including Tottenham Hotspur, who have won a trophy since Arsenal last did. That trophy too was the Carling Cup, back in 2008.

While the Carling Cup and its previous names have never been taken seriously by the top sides, despite their records in it (Manchester United and Chelsea have won 5 of the last 6), a trophy is a trophy none-the-less. With Manchester United being the only other top side left in the competition (Aston Villa are third favourites, Newcastle fourth), Arsene Wenger needs to look at the Carling Cup as an opportunity to put some silverware into the trophy cabinet down at the Emirates.

Playing the youngsters as he continually does in this competition may only go so far, as Newcastle proved to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. A mix of experience and youth prevailed at White Hart Lane on Tuesday when Arsenal overcame their biggest rivals after extra time in their third round match. Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin scored the extra time goals, while youngster Henri Lansbury had given Arsenal the lead in normal time.

Provided they avoid a trip to Old Trafford in the next round, Arsene Wenger must take their opponents in round four seriously and take full advantage of the big guns being eliminated early in the Carling Cup.

Arsenal are 3/1 second favourites to win this season’s Carling Cup.

With Florent Malouda’s start to the current Premier League season; Chelsea’s top goalscorer with 6 goals in their opening 5 games, Didier Drogba’s odds have risen to 4/9 to be the defending champions top goalscorer after 38 games.

Didier Drogba already has 5 goals to his name this season; 1 more than Salomon Kalou, 3 more than Nicolas Anelka. Frank Lampard has just 1 goal so far this season. Drogba, Chelsea’s central focus up front is not only a good shout to be Chelsea’s top scorer at the end of the season, but also the Premier League Golden Boot winner for a third time.

Since the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti at the start of last season, Didier Drogba has refound similar form to what he was producing under Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, if not better. Didier Drogba remains one of the best strikers in the world, and impossible for Premier League defences to defend against on his day.

Frank Lampard has been Chelsea’s top Premier League goalscorer on more occasions than Didier Drogba, but the English midfielder had looked off form this season, before picking up a knock before the international break. Lampard made few touches of the ball and was happy to distribute it to team mates in his opening games, suggesting he may not have been at full fitness from the opening game of the season.

While Florent Malouda seems to score with every shot he puts on target, one would have to think his goals will dry up at some point. With the likes of Yuri Zhirkov and Yossi Benayoun who can play in his position, don’t be surprised to see Ancelotti use a squad rotation system during the system and give Malouda a rest.

Since being the Premier League top goalscorer in 2008/09, Nicolas Anelka’s goals dried up last season, followed up with a disappointing World Cup that saw him sent home days before the French national team flew home after their opening round elimination. Anelka has already struck the net twice this season, but suffers from stiff competition from Salomon Kalou. The Frenchman’s chances of outscoring Drogba this season seem very unlikely.

With that said, Didier Drogba looks nailed on to be Chelsea’s top scorer again this season, making his odds of 4/9 to do so a great bet. I also fancy him to be the top scorer in the Premier League for the second successive season, currently 2/1 favourite to do so.

After 71 seconds, Blackpool fans could have been forgiven for thinking their team was heading for a record Premier League defeat. Prior to kick off, the they could have been forgiven just the same.

While Chelsea cruised to a 4-0 first half lead in the final Premier League game of this weekend, the reigning champions took their foot off the gas in the second half, surrendering any hopes of Premier League records. Blackpool even had a couple of opportunities themselves in the second half, but there was only ever going to be one winner in this match.

Salomon Kalou scored that opener, while Florent Malouda scored goals either side of Didier Drogba’s deflected effort on half hour. As I wrote in my weekly Premier League Tips, I expected Chelsea to cause problems at will down the flanks. Ashley Cole was playing for fun down the left flank, while Florent Malouda could have had a hat trick himself.

Rating Chelsea’s credentials for their Premier League challenge will not be judged on this performance, neither shall they be next weekend when they face their first test of the season with a trip to Manchester City. Chelsea were beat in both meetings with the second team in Manchester last season. City were also the only side to defeat Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in his first season at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have already opened a 7 point lead over Manchester City in 5 games, and a 4 point lead over second place Arsenal.

Manchester City recorded a 2-0 victory over Wigan today, while a Dimitar Berbatov hat trick helped secure a big victory for Manchester United over Liverpool, as they remain 4 points behind leaders Chelsea. On Saturday, Darren Bent’s stoppage stoppage time equaliser for Sunderland saw Arsenal drop further behind Chelsea who subsequently became odds-on favourites to defend their title.

Chelsea were able to record their comfortable victory today without the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Nicolas Anelka. Their strength in depth is impressive, with Branislav Ivanovic comfortably slipping into central defence, and Salomon Kalou having no problems playing as a starting right forward. I would say today’s central midfield would struggle against the elite in the league, with the world class Michael Essien being partnered by Ramires and John Obi Mikel.

Chelsea have now scored 21 goals in their opening 5 goals, with only Scott Parker’s consolation goal going against them.

Chelsea travel to Manchester City next weekend, followed up by hosting Arsenal and then travelling to Aston Villa for their next three Premier League fixtures. That’s a test, and one I expect to see Chelsea top of the Premier League on the evening of Saturday October 16th.

There were no real problems for England this evening as they won 3-1 in Switzerland to top Group G.

After good work down the right wing, Glen Johnson setup Wayne Rooney for England’s opener on 10 minutes. Theo Walcott was injured in the same move. His replacement, Adam Johnson impressed once again as he stakes a claim for a regular place in the England side.

Stephan Lichtsteiner’s red card 20 minutes into the second half seemed to give England breathing space, and 3 points never looked in doubt when Adam Johnson doubled the lead with 20 minutes remaining. Then Xherdan Shaqiri stunned the travelling support with a long range effort that flew into the top corner past Joe Hart. There went my dreams of 8 clean sheets. Other that, Joe Hart was never really tested but for a few crosses that the defence didn’t handle well with Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott playing in the centre of defence.

Substitute Darren Bent wrapped up 3 points leaving Switzerland with a bit of work to do after Montenegro join England with a 100% record following their 1-0 win in Bulgaria that persuaded head coach Stanimir Stoilov to resign after the game. Montenegro host Switzerland in their next qualifying game, in October. A few days later they travel to Wembley Stadium which will be England’s third game in this group.

England to Win Group G

Without wanting to sound arrogant, Group G already looks wrapped up for England. Trips to Wales and Montenegro on Friday night’s will be our only challenges, and that for the atmosphere more than anything else. England have been handed a very weak group, with Switzerland being a poor second seed.

Euro 2012 Results

England were not the only big nation to concede a goal this evening, as Azerbaijan scored in Germany. They did concede 6 however. Portugal were beat 1-0 in Norway, leaving them 5 points behind the Scandinavians after two games. Italy recorded their second win of 2010, adding a 5-0 victory over Faroe Islands to their 2-1 win in Estonia on Friday. Laurent Blanc got a valuable 2-0 victory in Bosnia & Herzegovina that sets them up nicely in Group D after their home loss to Belarus on Friday. They are 4/6 to win their group. And a special shout out to Scotland who scored a stoppage time winner to beat the mighty Liechtenstein.

England were untested in their opening Euro 2012 qualifying match last night at Wembley stadium against Bulgaria. Jermain Defoe opened the scoring in the 3rd minute of the game, and England would not add to their lead until the hour when Defoe finished off a counter-attacking move.

Substitute Adam Johnson added to the score late on, before Jermain Defoe became the 57th player to score a hat trick for England with 5 minutes remaining. The scoreline was impressive, but Bulgaria failed to test England. To sum it up, Joe Hart’s biggest test came from his own defender, Glen Johnson who nearly put the ball into his own net. Phil Jagielka remains the only player to have scored past Joe Hart in 5 international appearances, and even then that was controversial.

The Future

Building for the European Championships in two years time, without the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard, Fabio Capello had an opportunity to play some fresh talent. Joe Hart, Michael Dawson, Phil Jagielka, Theo Walcott and James Milner all started.

Michael Dawson was stretchered off early in the second half with what appeared to be a serious leg injury. Despite Bulgaria not having much potency in attack, Dawson still managed to look a liability at the back. With a lack of pace and a poor start to the season with Spurs, Dawson would be far short of pulling on an England shirt in an ideal world. His replacement in the second half, Gary Cahill had no problem fitting in, and even threw his body in the way of a goal-bound effort from Stiliyan Petrov.

Phil Jagielka was the better of England’s defenders last night, but right now he’s not ready to take on the top players in the international game. Solid in the air, he relied on a few last-ditch challenges to get the team out of trouble.

Theo Walcott had made a great start to the season with Arsenal and deserved his place in the starting eleven against Bulgaria. Apart from being able to whiz by defenders, Walcott continued to show nothing in an England shirt as he failed to setup opportunities for team mates or himself, despite having the ball in good positions in the final third. His replacement for the final quarter of an hour, Adam Johnson managed to get himself on the scoresheet as he looked like a bigger threat in the penalty area than Walcott.

James Milner was positioned in the left wing, where perhaps he is unable to maximise his potential at international level. He had another solid, hard-working game for England against Bulgaria as he proved he was fit to wear the shirt on Friday. A tougher test on Tuesday night, but Milner is bidding to become one of England’s key players in 2012.

Ashley Young came on for the final 3 minutes after Jermain Defoe picked up a knock in scoring his third. There was not enough time to make a judgement on Young, who was unable to even get a touch of the ball.

Tuesday

Switzerland away on Tuesday is potentially the toughest game in the group for England. Montenegro and Wales away should not be underestimated, although England are capable of running away with the group. It’s hard to predict which nations are even going to break England down and score past them in this group, which is ultimately going to be a lack of match practice for when England race the real test in Poland and Ukraine in two years. As ever with England, you expect a comfortable qualifying campaign to end with disaster when it comes to the main stage. For now though, we might-as-well enjoy it whilst we’re on top and knowing we’re not in as bad a situation as France, who went down 1-0 at home to Belarus yesterday.

Arsenal
Manuel Almunia
Andrei Arshavin
Nicklas Bendtner
Marouane Chamakh
Gael Clichy
Denilson
Abou Diaby
Johan Djourou
Emmanuel Eboue
Lukasz Fabianski
Cesc Fabregas
Laurent Koscielny
Vito Mannone
Samir Nasri
Tomas Rosicky
Bacary Sagna
Alex Song
Sebastien Squillaci
Robin van Persie
Thomas Vermaelen

(Arsenal under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Emmanuel Frimpong, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey, Carlos Vela , Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere)

Aston Villa
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Habib Beye
John Carew
James Collins
Carlos Cuellar
Curtis Davies
Stewart Downing
Richard Dunne
Brad Friedel
Brad Guzan
Emile Heskey
Jonathan Hogg
Stephen Ireland
Eric Lichaj
Isaiah Osbourne
Stiliyan Petrov
Nigel Reo-Coker
Moustapha Salifou
Steve Sidwell
Stephen Warnock
Ashley Young
Luke Young

(Aston Villa under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Marc Albrighton, Barry Bannan, Ciaran Clark, Nathan Delfouneso and Fabian Delph)

Birmingham City
Jean Beausejour
Lee Bowyer
Stephen Carr
Scott Dann
Matt Derbyshire
Colin Doyle
Keith Fahey
Barry Ferguson
Ben Foster
Craig Gardner
Alexander Hleb
Cameron Jerome
Martin Jiranek
Roger Johnson
Sebastian Larsson
James McFadden
Michel
David Murphy
Garry O’Connor
James O’Shea
Stuart Parnaby
Kevin Phillips
Liam Ridgewell
Maik Taylor
Nikola Zigic

Blackburn Rovers
Keith Andrews
Benjani
Jason Brown
Mark Bunn
Pascal Chimbonda
El-Hadji Diouf
Mame Biram Diouf
David Dunn
Brett Emerton
Frank Fielding
Morten Gamst Pedersen
Gael Givet
Vince Grella
Nikola Kalinic
Ryan Nelsen
Steven N’Zonzi
Martin Olsson
Jason Roberts
Paul Robinson
Michel Salgado
Chris Samba

(Blackburn Rovers under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Aaron Doran, Junior Hoilett and Phil Jones)

Blackpool:
Charlie Adam
Alex Baptiste
Chris Basham
Stephen Crainey
DJ Campbell
David Carney
Danny Coid
Ishmel Demontagnac
Neal Eardley
Rob Edwards
Jason Euell
Ian Evatt
Matthew Gilks
Elliot Grandin
Marlon Harewood
Dekel Keinan
Malaury Martin
Brett Ormerod
Keith Southern
Ludovic Sylvestre
Gary Taylor-Fletcher
Luke Varney
David Vaughan

Bolton Wanderers
Ali Al-Habsi (on loan at Wigan Athletic)
Robbie Blake
Adam Bogdan
Gary Cahill
Tamir Cohen
Kevin Davies
Mark Davies
Sean Davis
Johan Elmander
Ricardo Gardner
Stuart Holden
Jussi Jaaskelainen
Ivan Klasnic
Zat Knight
Chung-Yong Lee
Fabrice Muamba
Andy O’Brien
Joey O’Brien
Martin Petrov
Sam Ricketts
Paul Robinson
Jlloyd Samuel
Gretar Steinsson
Matt Taylor

Chelsea
Alex
Nicolas Anelka
Yossi Benayoun
Jose Bosingwa
Petr Cech
Ashley Cole
Didier Drogba
Michael Essien
Paulo Ferreira
Hilario
Branislav Ivanovic
Salomon Kalou
Frank Lampard
Florent Malouda
John Obi Mikel
Ramires
John Terry
Ross Turnbull
Yuri Zhirkov

(Chelsea under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Fabio Borini, Jeffrey Bruma, Gael Kakuta, Daniel Sturridge and Patrick van Aanholt)

Everton
Victor Anichebe
Mikel Arteta
Leighton Baines
Jermaine Beckford
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
Tim Cahill
Seamus Coleman
Sylvain Distin
Marouane Fellaini
John Heitinga
Tony Hibbert
Tim Howard
Phil Jagielka
Jan Mucha
Phil Neville
Leon Osman
Steven Pienaar
Louis Saha
Iain Turner
James Vaughan
Yakubu

(Everton under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Jose Baxter, Shane Duffy, Magaye Gueye and Jack Rodwell)

Fulham
Chris Baird
Simon Davies
Moussa Dembele
Clint Dempsey
Kagisho Dikgacoi
Damien Duff
David Elm
Dickson Etuhu
Zoltan Gera
Jonathan Greening
Andrew Johnson
Eddie Johnson
Rafik Halliche
Brede Hangeland
Aaron Hughes
Diomansy Kamara
Stephen Kelly
Danny Murphy
John Pantsil
Bjorn Helge Riise
Carlos Salcido
Mark Schwarzer
David Stockdale
Fredrik Stoor
Bobby Zamora

Liverpool
Daniel Agger
Fabio Aurelio
Ryan Babel
Jamie Carragher
Joe Cole
Stephen Darby
Steven Gerrard
Glen Johnson
Brad Jones
Milan Jovanovic
Paul Konchesky
Dirk Kuyt
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Lucas
Raul Meireles
Christian Poulsen
Jose Reina
Maxi Rodriguez
Martin Skrtel
Jay Spearing
Fernando Torres

(Liverpool under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Martin Kelly, David N’Gog, Daniel Pacheco, Jonjo Shelvey and Daniel Wilson)

Manchester City
Emmanuel Adebayor
Gareth Barry
Jerome Boateng
Wayne Bridge
Nigel de Jong
Shay Given
Joe Hart
Adam Johnson
Michael Johnson
Jo
Aleksander Kolarov
Vincent Kompany
Joleon Lescott
Shaleum Logan
James Milner
Micah Richards
Roque Santa Cruz
David Silva
Stuart Taylor
Carlos Tevez
Kolo Toure
Yaya Toure
Patrick Vieira
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Pablo Zabaleta

(Manchester City under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Mario Balotelli, Dedryck Boyata and Greg Cunningham)

Manchester United
Anderson
Dimitar Berbatov
Wes Brown
Michael Carrick
Jonny Evans
Patrice Evra
Rio Ferdinand
Darren Fletcher
Darron Gibson
Ryan Giggs
Owen Hargreaves
Javier Hernandez
Park Ji-Sung
Tomasz Kuszczak
Nani
Gary Neville
John O’Shea
Michael Owen
Wayne Rooney
Paul Scholes
Antonio Valencia
Edwin van der Sar
Nemanja Vidic

(Manchester United under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Ben Amos, Bebe, Ritchie De Laet, Fabio, Federico Macheda, Gabriel Obertan, Rafael and Chris Smalling)

Newcastle United
Shola Ameobi
Joey Barton
Hatem Ben Arfa
Leon Best
Sol Campbell
Fabricio Coloccini
Jose Enrique
Fraser Forster
Danny Guthrie
Jonas Gutierrez
Steve Harper
Tim Krul
Peter Lovenkrands
Kevin Nolan
James Perch
Wayne Routledge
Danny Simpson
Alan Smith
Ryan Taylor
Steven Taylor
Cheik Tiote
Mike Williamson
Xisco

(Newcastle United under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Andy Carroll and Dan Gosling)

Stoke City
Asmir Begovic
Danny Collins
Rory Delap
Salif Diao
Matthew Etherington
Abdoulaye Faye
Ricardo Fuller
Eidur Gudjohnsen
Danny Higginbotham
Robert Huth
Kenwyne Jones
Carlo Nash
Jermaine Pennant
Danny Pugh
Ryan Shawcross
Thomas Sorensen
Ryan Shotton
Tom Soares
Michael Tonge
Tuncay
Jonathan Walters
Glenn Whelan
Dean Whitehead
Andy Wilkinson
Marc Wilson

Sunderland
Marcos Angeleri
Phil Bardsley
Darren Bent
Titus Bramble
Fraizer Campbell
Trevor Carson
Lee Cattermole
Paulo da Silva
Ahmed El Mohamady
Anton Ferdinand
Craig Gordon
Asamoah Gyan
David Healy
Steed Malbranque
George McCartney
John Mensah
Simon Mignolet
Nedum Onuoha
Andy Reid
Kieran Richardson
Cristian Riveros
Michael Turner
Robbie Weir
Boudewijn Zenden

(Sunderland under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck)

Tottenham Hotspur
Benoit Assou-Ekotto
Sebastian Bassong
David Bentley
Vedran Corluka
Peter Crouch
Carlo Cudicini
Michael Dawson
Jermain Defoe
William Gallas
Gomes
Tom Huddlestone
Alan Hutton
Jermaine Jenas
Younes Kaboul
Robbie Keane
Ledley King
Niko Kranjcar
Aaron Lennon
Luka Modric
Kyle Naughton
Jamie O’Hara
Wilson Palacios
Roman Pavlyuchenko
Stipe Pletikosa
Rafael van der Vaart

(Tottenham Hotspur under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Gareth Bale, Giovanni dos Santos, Danny Rose, Sandro and Kyle Walker)

West Bromwich Albion
Giles Barnes
Roman Bednar
Chris Brunt
Scott Carson
Marek Cech
Simon Cox
Graham Dorrans
Marc-Antoine Fortune
Pablo Ibanez
Gonzalo Jara
Dean Kiely
Abdoulaye Meite
Ishmael Miller
James Morrison
Youssouf Mulumbu
Boaz Myhill
Peter Odemwingie
Jonas Olsson
Steven Reid
Paul Scharner
Nicky Shorey
Gabriel Tamas
Somen Tchoyi
Jerome Thomas
Gianni Zuiverloon

West Ham United
Pablo Barrera
Valon Behrami
Tal Ben Haim
Luis Boa Morte
Ruud Boffin
Carlton Cole
Jack Collison
Manuel da Costa
Kieron Dyer
Julien Faubert
Daniel Gabbidon
Robert Green
Zavon Hines
Thomas Hitzlsperger
Herita Ilunga
Lars Jacobsen
Radoslav Kovac
Benni McCarthy
Mark Noble
Victor Obinna
Scott Parker
Frederic Piquionne
Winston Reid
Jonathan Spector
Matthew Upson

(West Ham United under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Frank Nouble, Freddie Sears, Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins)

Wigan Athletic
Ali Al-Habsi
Antolin Alcaraz
Mauro Boselli
Emmerson Boyce
Gary Caldwell
Steven Caldwell
Daniel de Ridder
Mohamed Diame
Maynor Figueroa
Steve Gohouri
Jordi Gomez
Chris Kirkland
James McArthur
Charles N’Zogbia
Mike Pollitt
Hugo Rodallega
Ronnie Stam
Hendry Thomas
Ben Watson

(Wigan Athletic under 21 players that didn’t need to be registered to play, include: Tom Cleverley, Franco di Santo, James McCarthy and Victor Moses)

Wolverhampton Wanderers
Marcus Bent
Christophe Berra
Jody Craddock
Kevin Doyle
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Dave Edwards
George Elokobi
Steven Fletcher
Marcus Hahnemann
Greg Halford
Wayne Hennessey
Kevin Foley
Adlene Guedioura
Karl Henry
Stephen Hunt
Carl Ikeme
Matt Jarvis
David Jones
Michael Mancienne
Nenad Milijas
Steven Mouyokolo
Richard Stearman
Jelle van Damme
Stephen Ward
Ronald Zubar