Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
The second weekend of Premier League fixtures saw Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s misery compiled after Arsenal succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool. The defeat was not made any easier to digest for Arsenal fans as young star Aaron Ramsey was unfortunately the scorer of an own-goal and their new signing, Emmmanuel Frimpong, was the recipient of a red card on his full home debut. Arsenal have now collected only two points from their last five premier league matches and already find themselves five points behind early pace setters Manchester City and Manchester United who continued their 100% start to the new season.
The Gunners boss has every reason to feel uneasy as his team face an arduous week with a challenging Champions League tie away to Udinese on Wednesday and talented midfielder Samir Nasri said to be completing his move to the City of Manchester Stadium. As for Liverpool, they will be pleased with their victory away from home against one of their ‘top 5’ rivals as they begin unbeaten in their first full season under Kenny Daglish.
Whilst some may have foreseen a victory for Liverpool over a troubled Arsenal side, few would have expected newly promoted QPR to win 1-0 against Everton away from home. The Hoops undoubtedly pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend and will be glad that they have claimed their first 3 points of the season especially after being on the receiving end of a 4-0 thrashing by Bolton Wanderers 7 days prior.
Elsewhere this weekend there were impressive victories for Wolves at home to Fulham and also for Newcastle against Sunderland in the Tyne and Wear derby. Chelsea and Aston Villa both recorded home victories whilst honours were even at the Liberty Stadium between Swansea City and Wigan and at Carrow Road where Norwich entertained Stoke City.
The exciting start to the Premier League season looks set to continue next weekend with some interesting matches particularly at Villa Park where Aston Villa and Wolves, who have made good starts to the new season, contest a West Midlands derby. Another interestingmatch will be Tottenham vs Manchester City where Harry Redknapp will be vying for a victory against Roberto Mancini, the manager of the team which replaced Tottenham in the Champions League this season. Manchester City will be hoping for a 3rd straight victory and to really prove to any doubters and to themselves that this season they really can go on and win the league for the first time in 44 years.
The pick of the action next weekend however has to be the clash at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Arsenal. Arsenal will be travelling to Manchester on the back end of a dire run of form whilst it is more than likely that Nasri will also be on his way to Manchester but instead to the blue half of the city. The suspension of Frimpong will cause a further selection selection headache for Wenger. The odds will be stacked against the away side and it will be entertaining to see how they respond.
Tip of the week: United to win to nil which is generally 11/8 with bookmakers.
What a great start to the season this has been. QPR have made things exciting with their early victory and with Chelsea and Arsenal struggling in their opening games, it looks like this season's league will be just as unpredictable as last time around!
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