The build up to the Champions League Final has been somewhat overshadowed by talk of the big names who will not be gracing the Allianz Arena turf rather than those who will be playing for Bayern Munich and Chelsea on Saturday night.

In the Blue corner John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Mereiels are banned, while the Munich Reds are missing Luiz Gustavo, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber.

The effect of those absentees on Chelsea could force Roberto di Matteo into one of two options – the ultra cautious approach that served them so well in both legs against Barcelona in the semi-final, or all-out attack.

The latter appears fanciful in the extreme, going against the Chelsea mantra which has been in place since Jose Mourinho took charge back in 2004.

But without two of their most influential defenders in Terry and Ivanovic, Di Matteo could reap the benefits of a more orthodox 4-3-3 system with Juan Mata, Didier Drogba and the rejuvenated Fernando Torres piling the pressure on Bayern’s defence, rather than the more accustomed diamond formation the Chelsea caretaker boss favours.

And it is the Bavarian club’s defence that appears to have come under the most scrutiny. Despite only 22 goals conceded in 34 league games this season Dortmund put five past them in the recent German cup final and Chelsea’s newest recruit has pinpointed this as Bayern’s Achilles heel.

Marko Marin signed a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge last month in a £7 million move from Werder Bremen.

And the winger was in no doubt about the frailties at the back he believes his new team-mates can expose.

Marin said: “Yes. I watched the German cup final. They made big errors. Chelsea have better players and will do well if they play offensively.

“I think (Chelsea) will win at the weekend. Bayern did a very good job against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, but they did not do well in the cup final.”

Fitness permitting, the Chelsea back-line picks itself with Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Jose Bosingwa likely to start the game if they come through training successfully.

Petr Cech will be in goal leaving three midfielders to make up the XI. Frank Lampard will start as skipper in Terry’s absence just in front of John Obi Mikel and a possible surprise spot for Michael Essien. The trio can then look to nullify the threat of Bayern going forward and be supported by Torres and Mata when not in possession.

And there is no doubt Bayern will be a potent force going forward, one that Marin was keen to emphasise, identifying the Bayern players he sees as danger men. Somewhat surprisingly he omitted Arjen Robben from his list.

“I think the strongest Bayern player is Franck Ribéry because of his dribbling and because  he’s a goal threat,” Marin added.

“There’s also Mario Gómez. He’s scored a lot of goals in the Champions League and is a constant danger. If Chelsea can stop them then they will do well.”  

Saturday signals the break-up of Chelsea’s golden generation with at least one of Cech, Cole, Lampard, Essien, Drogba and the absent Terry leaving this summer.

They have the opportunity to hand owner Roman Abramovich a perfect thank you for making them all very rich men, and for the investment that has made the Blues the force they are.

Many people, especially in England, are talking about Chelsea being destined to win the Champions League since they overcame Barcelona in the Nou Camp with a whole heap of luck on their side. However, Bayern Munich have appeared to have had fate on their side all season. That is a whole heap of good fortune and positive vibes going against each other on Saturday night.

This season has had an intriguing shape to it in terms of priorities for Bayern Munich. As much as no-one at the club will ever admit it, there has always seemed to be, in recent times, a pattern to how Bayern Munich approach a season. They spotlight the Bundesliga whenever they have a summer preceding it that does not contain a major international tournament.

Whether that is by design or by force, in the sense that so many of the Bayern squad are heavily fatigued by spending the summer playing international football that a slow league start is somehow inevitable.  This season is different, although they started the league campaign like the proverbial train, once the Champions League kicked into gear there seemed to be a sense that everybody from Uli Hoeneβ through to the players, and even to some extent the fans, had all eyes on getting to a Champions League Final at their home stadium.

So, now they are there, having seen the Bundesliga title slip away for the second year in succession (the last time Bayern did win the title in two successive years was the mid-nineties), are they actually going to win it?

TEAM LINE-UP

In most cases, it would be hard to predict what the line-up will be but with injuries and suspensions we already know what team Jupp Heynckes is going to play. That is the same team he used for last league game, a routine 4-1 win that sent FC Kӧln down.

It will be the now commonplace German 4-2-3-1 formation: Manuel Neuer – Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, Diego Contento – Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos – Franck Ribery, Thomas Müller, Arjen Robben – Mario Gomez.

Anyone who saw Manuel Neuer play for Schalke in the competition last term knows just what a world class keeper he is and, after some rather basic mistakes earlier on in the competition, and once the furore of a Schalke fan playing for Bayern calmed down, he returned to his form of last term.

But it is the backline in front of him where the problems are. David Alaba is suspended – the biggest blow that Bayern could possibly have at this juncture – with the young Austrian a revelation since he was dropped into left-back allowing Lahm to move to his preferred right-back position. The defence has looked a lot more solid than at the start of the season where Rafinha was meant to play right-back with Lahm over on the left.

In central defence Jerome Boateng and Anotoliy Tymoshchuk are both not natural centre-backs (however much Boateng would tell you otherwise), which means the suspension of Holger Badstuber is also crucial. One centre-half they could probably manage without, it is the injury to Daniel Van Buyten, which happened so long ago nobody is even talking about it, that is even more crucial. With him fit they could use his ability and experience to marshal the back four and push Tymoshchuk into midfield to provide some steel to replace the also suspended Luiz Gustavo. Instead that position will be filled by Toni Kroos.

ATTACKING FLAIR

It is not all bad for Bayern Munich though, with defensive problems like this the ‘home’ side will have to attack. Ribery and Robben can both, on their day, take the game by the scruff of the neck and blow away and of the best sides in the world. Dealing with Robben especially is incredibly difficult for any opposing manager as it will be for Roberto Di Matteo as well.

The big question he will have to answer is whether Ashley Cole will be assigned to marking him one-on-one, risking his left-back being pulled into the middle by the Dutchman’s want to always cut inside his man. The other options would be to attempt to hand him off between Cole and the centre-half which needs great communication defensively and risks giving Müller space in dangerous positions when he should be being picked up by the centre-half.

Even so, this comes with a catch for Bayern. Thomas Müller has had a much weaker season than in the previous two campaigns and his form as been patchy even at the best of times. Added to this, the man tasked with potentially finishing off the chances, Mario Gomez still has question marks over his head. Despite his goal against Real, to use a cricketing term he is still considered a ‘flat-track bully’, scoring hatfuls in unimportant games and against weaker opponents but not doing it against the best.

DI MATTEO’S GAME PLAN

This is undoubtedly a game between two teams that are only half as good as the ones they defeated in the semi-finals so, with Bayern Munich going into this final as favourites to lift the trophy. In the end though, it will likely come down to how Chelsea set up to play.

If they go out with an intention to attack, they could overawe the weaknesses in the backline of Bayern, particularly on the Chelsea right, where the suspect Contento will be given no help by Ribery at all. While the likes of Frank Lampard and Juan Mata would be able to dominate the central areas against a midfield pair that may be less willing to ‘put a foot in’ than they should.

However, if Di Matteo is as worried as he appears to be with the weight of the players he has missing and decides to play a very defensive game, similar to the one they played over the two legs against Barcelona, it will be a missed opportunity. Firstly, it is not taking advantage of the weaknesses highlighted above and secondly it gives Schweinsteiger space in the midfield to spray searching balls through the Chelsea backline. This would be where Bayern get their biggest ‘home’ advantage as he especially would have an intimate understanding of the dimensions of the football field to weight those passes.

To stick my neck out, Bayern Munich will beat Chelsea and save Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League place.

Wembley is the venue for the most lucrative match in world football

It is called the richest game in football; a match that could be worth anywhere between £40 million and £80 million for the winners and on Saturday, West Ham and Blackpool go head-to-head for the right to compete in the Premier League next season.

Both sides were relegated this time last year and are looking for an instant return to the top flight. Though both have parachute payments to prop them up for another stint in the Championship, the onus and pressure is on West Ham to seal promotion to ease the financial burden on the owners.

The Hammers were many people’s favourites for automatic promotion and with some justification. Despite relegation, David Gold and David Sullivan invested heavily in the club, from dealing with the debts to hiring the most expensive manager in the league in Sam Allardyce and spending £5 million on Kevin Nolan. They were also active in the January window, with the Davids putting most of their eggs in the instant return to the Premier League basket.

In the orange corner Ian Holloway has gone about his business in what has become his usual manner; careful investment in the squad and getting the most out of the players at his disposal. While a challenge for the top two never materialised owing to inconsistency, the Tangerines delivered when it mattered to land a top six place and beat Birmingham over two legs.

It’s not only kit colour and approach to the season that contrasts between the two sides. The style of football deployed by their relative managers is also at opposite ends of the spectrum. Allardyce’ success as a football manager is based on his sides being the strongest, filling the midfield with the energy needed to feed off the knockdowns up front. Even with long stints in the top two, many Irons’ supporters have never taken to his style given the footballing traditions of the club.

Blackpool’s last promotion, two years ago, was based on Holloway instilling the belief in all of his players that they can play passing football in an attacking fashion. It was this very approach that won the club so many admirers in the Premier League. This season has been no different; Blackpool have had 567 attempts on goal.

While ‘Pool may edge the contest on attacking flair, that they ended the season with a goal different of plus 20 shows that defensively, there could be some concerns. They let in 38 goals on the road, with only four sides conceding more. Allardyce will no doubt have done his homework in looking to exploit this weakness.

What to watch out for:

West Ham may have the edge when it comes to available talent with a strikeforce of Carlton Cole, Sam Baldock, Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard testimony to that. Their midfield too is packed with players who have made a name in the Premier League. However, it is Blackpool who have the recent experience of this sort of occasion and a manager who will set out his team to play without fear. And, with the evergreen Kevin Phillips likely to start from the bench, Holloway has a possible matchwinner up his sleeve.

Possible line-ups:

Blackpool – Gilks, Eardley, Crainey, Evatt, Baptiste, Ferguson, Angel, M Phillips, Dobbie, Taylor-Fletcher, Ince

West Ham – Green, Reid, Tomkins, Demel, McCartney, Noble, Nolan, Collison, Taylor, Vaz Te, Cole

Recent form: Blackpool – DWWDWD; West Ham – WDWWWW

Prediction: Blackpool 2 – 1 West Ham

"Do you fancy the Villa job Roberto?"

VAN PERSIE IN NEW TALKS

Arsenal marksman Robin Van Persie is scheduled for talks about his future with manager Arsene Wenger and the club’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Wednesday morning.  Gunners supporters will be optimistic the Dutchman will be content to stay should the club offer him a new deal as expected.

Van Persie, who scored an amazing 37 goals in 48 appearances in the season just finished, has only one year left on his existing deal and has been linked with some of the top clubs in Europe, not least new Premier League champions Manchester City.
However, after helping the team seal third place and Champions League football next season with a win at West Brom on Sunday, he seemed not entirely against the idea of staying put.

“I’ll always love this club.  “I have been playing here for eight years and I love this club. Whatever happens that will never change”.

Whatever the outcome of the meeting, no definitive statement on Van Persie’s future is expected until he returns from a pre-Euro 2012 training camp with the Netherlands, which begins on Thursday.

DÉJÀ VU AS VILLA CHASE MARTINEZ

It’s as if Aston Villa are trying to convince us their dismal 2011/12 season didn’t really happen, with Roberto Martinez topping their new manager wish list just as he did at this stage last year.

This speculation has arrived hot on the heels of the club’s decision to sack Alex McLeish, which was announced yesterday afternoon to no
real surprise after Villa finished the season 16^th and only two points above the relegation zone.

Villa interviewed Wigan boss Martinez last summer when they were looking to replace Gerard Houllier, but he declined the offer to take
over.  However, with the Spaniard’s stock soaring even higher now after sailing Wigan to safety once again, it seems only a matter of time before he does arrive at a bigger club.

If they fail to entice Martinez, Villa may turn their attention to either Norwich boss Paul Lambert or Swansea’s Brendan Rodgers.

PLAY IT AGAIN PAUL

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Paul Scholes has agreed to play another season of football.

37-year-old Scholes originally retired at the end of Manchester United’s 2010/11 title-winning campaign, but was persuaded to return in January of this year to improve United’s flagging form.

That he did just that is obvious considering he came third in the Football Writers’ player of the year awards, although United still finished the season without a major trophy.

Ferguson is certain a full season of Scholes, used intelligently, would be of major benefit next season.

“If he plays 25 or 30 games next season, they will be of real quality.  We know him very well, we know how to use him”.

FRESH TEVEZ CONTROVERSY

There’s never any barrier to controversy at Manchester City these days, especially where Carlos Tevez is concerned.

Even amid the triumphant atmosphere of the club’s bus parade to celebrate their title success, Tevez has managed to arouse negative publicity by holding a banner reading “R.I.P. Fergie”.

In fairness to the Argentine he didn’t write it himself, it was passed to him by someone in the crowd, but his action of holding it up for the nation to see implored City to issue an apology to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in a statement also condemning Tevez.

“The creation of the tasteless material is in itself reprehensible and in accepting and brandishing it, Carlos has made a significant error of judgment”.

OTHER NEWS

Joey Barton’s sending off at the weekend and subsequent 10-match ban for violent conduct has thrown his Queens Park Rangers future into jeopardy.

England manager Roy Hodgson has added former Manchester United defender Gary Neville to his coaching staff in time for Euro 2012.  Neville has signed a four-year contract with the FA and will combine the role with TV punditry.

Rangers’ USA international midfielder Maurice Edu wants to remain at Ibrox despite the uncertainty over the club’s future.

ON THE CONTINENT

Bayern Munich want to bring Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin back to Germany.  The youngster was a standout performer for Borussia Dortmund 12 months ago, but has struggled with the competition at the Bernabeu.

Malaga’s former Manchester United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy has announced his retirement from football at the age of 35.

In the Norwegian league, Brann Bergen accidently scored against Lillestrom when they were trying to give them the ball back following an
injury.  For this they let their opponents equalise, although goalkeeper Piotr Leciejewski still tried to save their shot.

There was plenty of last day drama in Spain, as wins for Real Zaragoza and Rayo Vallecano ensured the shock relegation of Villarreal, whilst Levante sealed a European place.

VILLARREAL 0-1 ATLETICO MADRID

While it always seemed possible, nobody was really predicting Villarreal to go down. It has been a disaster of a season, but with two clubs separating them from the relegation zone, and Granada in action against one of them, all Villarreal really needed to do was get a point against an Atletico team with little to play for apart from an outside shot of Champions League football, having already bagged the Europa League trophy in midweek.

But the improbable happened within two minutes in two of the games. First, Radamel Falcao popped up in the 89^th minute to score his 24^th goal of the season and condemn Villarreal to a costly defeat, whilst in Madrid…

RAYO VALLECANO 1-0 GRANADA

…Rayo Vallecano, into injury time of a game which as results were going against them, would see them relegated with merely a draw. But Raul Tamudo, already a hero at Espanyol, appeared (in a seemingly offside position) to head home from close range and send the home fans into raptures, as his goal ensured Rayo Vallecano will remain a Primera Liga club next season.

Granada had a bit of a wait as they sat nervously, but as news of Villarreal’s defeat filtered through, they enjoyed a massive on pitch party with their fellow survivors. Beautiful scenes in a way.

GETAFE 0-2 REAL ZARAGOZA

This drama was all made possible as Getafe imploded in a match Zaragoza needed to win to complete their dramatic revival. Having been 12 points adrift at the beginning of March, Manolo Jimenez has done a magical job of turning their fortunes around, with this victory over eight-man Getafe getting them out of the drop zone for the first time since about September.

Pablo Sarabia kicked things off by picking up two bookings in two minutes as Getafe’s discipline went out of the window with only 25 minutes gone, before Miguel Torres saw red ten minutes into the second half, as he gave away a penalty.

Apono converted the penalty to give Zaragoza the lead, before the referee got busy again in the final ten minutes, as Zaragoza’s Tomislav Dujmovic and Getafe’s Miku were both sent off in separate incidents. Helder Postiga then clinched victory and survival in stoppage time to complete a memorable, if not overly celebrated by the neutrals, comeback.

MALAGA 1-0 SPORTING GIJON

The other side aiming for unlikely survival were Sporting Gijon, but they were not to be so lucky as they fell to Malaga, who in turn clinched their place in next season’s Champions League tournament and secured their highest ever finish in La Primera.

Salomon Rondon, the repeatedly unsung hero of this Malaga side, scored the only goal of the game to keep Malaga fourth, whilst Sporting were, as expected, condemned to playing next season in La Segunda.

LEVANTE 3-0 ATHLETIC BILBAO

Demoralisation from their Europa League defeat, or one eye on the Copa Del Rey final? You decide the excuse, but Athletic Bilbao failed to show up against Levante, allowing Los Granotes to secure their place in next season’s Europa League, thus making them the second team in the Valencia region following Villarreal’s demise.

Abdelkhader Ghezzal scored twice for the season’s surprise package, with a Javier Farinos penalty sealing a comfortable victory that sends Levante into their first (and probably only) European tour.

Athletic will go into next season’s competition anyway as qualifiers from the Copa Del Rey, with Barca already in the Champions League.

REAL MADRID 4-1 MALLORCA

Levante were able to clinch that position, as Mallorca lost at Real Madrid, which was hardly to be unexpected despite Real having already clinched the title a while back.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema scored first half goals, with Mesut Özil adding a second-half brace, either side of a Chori Castro consolation goal, to take Real to the 100 point mark for the season and spark hours of over-the-top on-pitch celebrations, including Placido Domingo singing ‘Hala Madrid’.

Impressive spectacle it may have been, but appeared to only exist in order to rub it in the noses of Barcelona.

RACING SANTANDER 2-4 OSASUNA

Osasuna did all they could to keep pace with the European challengers, but miss out despite a big seventh placed finish. Racing tried to go out with a bit of a bang, but the flaws in their performance were symptomatic of their season, with relegation having been assured long ago.

Christian Stuani tried to put a bright spark on the end of this horrible season with his second minute opener, but a 15-minute second half salvo from Ibrahima Balde, Alvaro Cejudo and Raul Garcia swung the game in the visitors favour. Jairo Samperio pulled one back for Racing, but Osasuna made sure when Roversio scored in the final minute.

Despite Atletico’s Europa League victory automatically giving them qualification to next season’s competition, an extra space in the league will not materialise, meaning Osasuna will miss out.

ESPANYOL 1-1 SEVILLA

With other results going against them, this effectively became a dead rubber match as neither side would have made Europe even with victory. That it ended in a draw  sums up both sides seasons, as they were always on the cusp, but threw away any potential chance they may have had.

Alvaro Negredo opened the scoring for Sevilla in first half stoppage time, before Phillippe Coutinho equalised, as both teams will go into the summer knowing they will need to be stronger next season.

REAL BETIS 2-2 BARCELONA

These next two matches took place on the Saturday, as they would have no bearing on the league table in any important way, and Pep Guardiola ended his reign as Barca manager with a rather fortunate draw.

Sergio Busquets gave Barca a ninth minute lead, but the second half proved a disaster, as Dani Alves saw red for two bookable offences, before a six minute double salvo from Ruben Castro reversed the scoreline. Barca were determined to ensure Guardiola didn’t leave with a whimper though and got their equaliser in stoppage time, as Seydou Keita netted to give La Blaugrana a share of the spoils.

REAL SOCIEDAD 1-0 VALENCIA

One manager who did go out with a whimper was Unai Emery, as he leaves his position as Valencia manager despite leading them to consecutive third place finishes, despite having his best players sold from underneath him.

His last game ended in a defeat that has typified Valencia’s season in the eyes of many a Valencia fan, with plenty of the ball being seen, but so little created with it. Antoine Griezmann proved the thorn in Valencia’s side for the second time this season as he struck 20 minutes into the second half, with Sociedad finishing a mere two points behind their more celebrated rivals, Athletic Bilbao.

It’s been another enthralling season in La Liga, despite the nay-sayers pointing merely to the two-horse title race. Looking forward to next season for another set of twists, turns and exciting football as Barca try to reclaim their title, Malaga look to build further on their big season and Villarreal look to fight back into a league they have well and truly belonged in.

Follow Sam and his La Liga musings on Twitter: @SmParker8

Aguero will forever bask in City folklore

One of the most exhilarating seasons in Premier League history ended in a fittingly unimaginable style yesterday afternoon, as Manchester City beat QPR with a stoppage time winner from Sergio Aguero that meant they won the title on goal difference.

Title rivals and current champions Manchester United had finished their game at Sunderland a couple of minutes before the late winner arrived and having themselves won 1-0 were waiting eagerly for confirmation they’d managed to retain the trophy.  However, their hopes were dashed when in the 94^th minute Aguero struck powerfully past Paddy Kenny to give City a 3-2 win and sent the City fans into utopia.

QPR’s late defeat did not prove costly for their survival hopes, as Bolton’s failure to win at Stoke meant it would be they who follow Wolves and Blackburn into the second tier of English football next season.  Bolton needed to win their match, but despite leading 2-1 for over half an hour the game finished all-square, meaning their 11-year stay in the top flight has come to an end.

QPR would in the end have been relegated had Bolton held on to win, but for much of the game at the Etihad Stadium it was Mark Hughes’ men who looked like they would pull off the most unlikely of victories.  City had dominated possession and chances against QPR, yet unbelievably it was the Hoops who led 2-1, with ten men, up until the 92^nd minute.

Ultimately, it was the five minutes of stoppage time allocated for the scenes surrounding the sending off of Joey Barton, when the score was 1-1, that allowed City the time to come back and win.

The nature of the win and its significance will live long in the memory and as dramatic late turnarounds go it undoubtedly ranks alongside Manchester United’s Champions League win in Barcelona in 1999.  It was also without question the most exciting end to a title race since Arsenal won the first division championship at Liverpool with a late Michael Thomas winner in 1989.

Aguero’s late winner heralded scenes of jubilation among the home support at the Etihad that were justifiable for a crowd who instantly knew their team had just won the title for the first time in 44 years.  For the great majority of the second half however it really didn’t look like it was going to be their day at all.

United had applied the pressure on their rivals from early on, with Wayne Rooney heading them ahead at Sunderland in the 20^th minute.  An optimistic United would dominate the game at the Stadium of Light but a number of interventions from the woodwork limited them to a single-goal victory. That did not matter, they’d done all they needed to and would end up mere seconds away from being crowned champions once again.

City were equally as controlling of possession in their game, but lacked their normal fluency against QPR, perhaps a result of the weighty
occasion getting the better of them. In truth, they were given a helping hand by an opening goal in the 39^th minute that owed a lot to fortune.  Pablo Zabaleta’s shot from inside the area should have been parried away by Paddy Kenny, being as it was straight at him, but the Rangers keeper let the ball squirm between his hands and loop up into the goal via the far post.

From here, the team with the strongest home record against that with the weakest away record should have resulted in a procession, but football is a funny sort of game. City lost the influential Yaya Toure to injury shortly after he played a part in the opening goal, but still started the second half on the front foot, eager to put the game and the title to bed.

Only three minutes in however the away fans at Sunderland were given cause to erupt with delight with the news that Djibril Cisse had taken advantage of a Joleon Lescott error and hammered QPR level.  It was as unexpected a goal as any that had been scored this season, but what was to follow within the next 20 minutes was even more bewildering.

An off-the-ball tussle between Barton and Carlos Tevez ended with the former striking the latter and getting sent off.  Further controversy occurred when Barton, on his way from the pitch, blatantly kicked out at Aguero, a crime for which he will most certainly be punished in the near future.  The numerical advantage should have boosted City’s chances of re-attaining the lead, but remarkably it was QPR, at this point surviving only on goal difference, who went in front courtesy of a Jamie Mackie header from a rare counter-attack. United’s two point lead had been increased to three against all odds.

Roberto Mancini, visibly infuriated on the sidelines, waved his men forward though they needed no directions.  City peppered the QPR goal – they’d end up with an astonishing 35 goal attempts – but Kenny and the well-drilled Rangers defence remained defiant.

Mancini eventually introduced both substitute strikers, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli, and it was the first of the two who gave them a lifeline by heading in a corner in the second minute of injury time.  This lifted the home crowd, but the sea of sky blue supporters were still wearing a collective frown, convinced it just wasn’t to be.

Then, only two minutes later their wildest dreams came true when Aguero darted into the penalty area, tricked his way past the last
defender and drove past Kenny from 12 yards. He raced towards his ecstatic fans, wheeling his shirt around his head before being swamped by teammates. Within seconds of the restart the final whistle sounded and pandemonium ensued, with delirious fans pouring onto the pitch to celebrate.

Mancini, who has remained circumspect throughout the title challenge, could at last display his full emotions and was appreciative of what
it meant to the supporters.

“It is an incredible moment.  We wanted this title and we deserved to win this title.  This is for all our supporters, the club, the chairman, the owner.  This is a perfect finale for a crazy season.  When you beat a strong team like United twice in a season you deserve to win the title”.

Back up in Sunderland, Sir Alex Ferguson was philosophical and dignified in title race defeat and congratulated his team’s city rivals. 

“It’s not an easy league to win the premier division, anyone who wins it deserves it.  (The players) are very, very disappointed,
but there’s no other way they should be.
We’ve been involved in many nail-biters at the end of the season, it wasn’t our turn today, but most seasons it’s been good for us.  89 points, it’s been pointed out in most seasons it would have won it”.

With regards to matters at the other end of the table, Mark Hughes was relieved he’d managed to keep QPR up and vowed they’d not be in the same precarious position in the future.  “I thought we were absolutely magnificent today.  I feel delighted for everyone connected to the club that we’re still in the Premier League, because I feel that we’ll never be in this position again when I’m the manager”.

The real losers of the day therefore were Bolton.  After going behind to a very contentious Jonathan Walters goal, Owen Coyle’s men led at half time through goals by both Mark and Kevin Davies.  At that point Bolton were surviving due to QPR trailing at City, but the turnaround their and moreover a second Walters goal at the Britannia Stadium condemned Bolton to relegation, a point short of QPR.

Coyle was upset about the nature of both Stoke goals but was bullish about the team’s prospects of returning to the top flight straight away.  “We’re hurt, disappointed whatever you want to call it.  It’s horrible, there’s no getting away from it.  We have to come back at the first attempt which we’re more than capable of doing”.

Aside from the title and relegation issues there was still the matter of the Champions League qualification positions to be resolved.  Arsenal clinched third place thanks to a 3-2 win at West Brom, who gave manager Roy Hodgson a fitting send-off.  The win, achieved through goals by Yossi Benayoun, Andre Santos and Laurent Koscielny means Arsenal finish a point ahead of Tottenham, who beat Fulham 2-0 at home.

Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermaine Defoe got Spurs’ goals, but they will not be playing in Europe’s most lucrative competition next season if Chelsea win the Champions League final on Saturday.

Newcastle have finished a superb season just outside the top four.  Alan Pardew’s men were beaten 3-1 at Everton, who finish seventh, one place ahead of Merseyside foes Liverpool who were beaten 1-0 at Swansea.  Chelsea finished sixth and warmed up for their showdown with Bayern Munich by beating relegated Blackburn 2-1.  Elsewhere, Norwich beat Aston Villa 2-0 and Wigan celebrated survival with a 3-2 victory over bottom-placed Wolves.

It was a suitably tumultuous end to a season that provided a rollercoaster of emotions for fans of clubs up and down the country, with euphoria and heartache present in large doses.  Season 2011/12 is likely to live long in the memory mostly for some incredible scorelines and the refreshing successes achieved by promoted sides Swansea and Norwich, who finished 11^th and 12^th respectively, as well as Newcastle.  Perhaps most notably though, it marks the point where Manchester City began their ascent to the pinnacle of English football.

Following paper talk of his exit, Dalglish sends the ball back in to the American owners' court

NORTH LONDON RIVALS CHASE HOILETT

Arsenal and Tottenham are chasing the signature of Blackburn Rovers star Junior Hoilett, but manager Steve Kean admits he could even be heading abroad.

The 21-year-old made what is likely to be his final appearance for already relegated Rovers in yesterday’s 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.

And Kean has not yet given up on the highly unlikely idea of keeping the player, saying: “We’ll make a last-ditch effort to put something in front of him. You never know.”

Speaking about other clubs interest, the Rovers boss said: “I don’t think it is going to be just clubs in this country.

“I’m told that there is interest from abroad. I can understand why because he has had some great performances, not only this season, but the past couple of seasons.”

DALGLISH FAILS TO CRACK A SMILE

Happy-go-lucky Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has hit out at reports claiming that the success of an eighth placed finish and a penalty shoot-out Carling Cup Final win over Championship side Cardiff may still result in him being sacked by Liverpool’s owners.

The cheery Scot reacted after the Sunday papers were reporting that he will be replaced by Wigan’s Roberto Martinez.

After seeing his side secure their worst league finish in 19 seasons, Dalglish insisted he is going nowhere, saying: “I expect the owners to have more dignity and integrity than to believe a story in a newspaper.”

The performance of Dalglish will come under scrutiny when he convenes with owners John W Henry and Tom Werner in the days ahead.

BALOTELLI BACK IN GOOD BOOKS

After a barely believable end to his Premier League season with a late substitute appearance at the Etihad yesterday in time to lay on the injury-time winner for Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli’s season appears likely to extend into the Euro 2012 finals.

The striker has been selected as part of Italy’s provisional 32-man squad, after he was left out by Italy manager Cesare Prandelli, who deemed his stamp on Tottenham’s Scott Parker during a Premier League clash a “breach of team ethics.”

His dismissal against Arsenal last month put his place in the national picture in further doubt, also casting a cloud over his Manchester City future, but Prandelli insisted: “I never really thought of doing this without Balotelli, as he is a focal point of the national team.”

The squad will be trimmed to 23 later this week.

SIMPSON SIGNALS MAGPIES EXIT

Newcastle United full-back Danny Simpson appears to be on his way out of St James’ Park after refusing to sign a new contract at the club.

The former Manchester United player has a year left on his current deal but negotiations on an extension have hit a stalemate.

He has rejected what is believed to be the club’s final offer and is expected to be the first of many fringe players leaving the club, along with one or two of the star names that are attracting attention from bigger clubs.

ON THE CONTINENT

Belgium manager Georges Leekens has quit to take up the vacant coaching position at Club Bruges leading Belgian FA chairman Francois De Keersmaecker to describe the sudden departure as “beneath contempt”. Belgium play England in a friendly at Wembley next month.

Mark van Bommel, 35, is to leave AC Milan and return to PSV in the summer.

Udinese clinched a place in the play-off round of next season’s Champions League by winning 2-0 at Catania to finish third in Serie A.

OTHER NEWS

Chinese businessmen are considering investing in Coventry City, despite the Sky Blues’ relegation to League One. Former Coventry vice-chairman Gary Hoffman has been working with Ken Grant, who is an independent consultant in Asia.

A consortium headed by the former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green has had an unconditional offer accepted for Rangers.

The Republic of Ireland are sweating on John O’Shea’s fitness after he hobbled off yesterday in Sunderland’s 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND

Who else but Joey Barton. After his red card for an elbow on Carlos Tevez yesterday at the Etihad he took to the Twitter-sphere.

“Can do nothing but apologise to the players and the fans. Still don’t think its a sending off. Tried to take 1 of their players with me….”

We’re guessing he meant trying to get one of their players to react to his knee in the leg (Sergio Aguero) or attempted head butt (Vincent Kompany) and get themselves sent off, rather than the more Sicilian idea of taking somone with you.

Expect an eyewatering ban to be heading its way to Loftus Road.

New Wolves coach Stale Solbakken

‘Sometimes you have to roll the dice’ said Tom, one of the candidates on this year’s version of the apprentice last Wednesday.

When Wolverhampton Wanderers chief executive, Jez Moxey, confirmed that they would be appointing the former FC Kӧln Head Coach Stale Solbakken, that was the first thought that crossed through my head. It is certainly not a safe or stale pick to appoint the Norwegian whose first name is actually pronounced ‘Stohl-er’ (which will henceforth end the stale jokes).

For Wolves fans, they will look at the relegation of the cathedral city club in his only season in charge, a season he was not allowed to complete, as a number one reason why he is the wrong man for the job. Relegation plus Relegation normally does not equal success. It is an understandable viewpoint, particularly as a fan of a side that has been relegated in the benign fashion that Wolves have done when it becomes very easy to become pessimistic about everything in relation to your club.

FC KӧLN

While there were undoubtedly mistakes during his short-lived reign in the city of Cologne, like ripping the captaincy off of Lukas Podolski without being sure the man he chose to replace him would actually accept the job, the real reason the club saw themselves relegated comes from having big visions of returning to the glory days without the finances to back it up. This has caused havoc around the club as I discussed in an earlier article, here.

Solbakken, came across very well with the local media in Germany, who like the fans in Cologne, have ideas for the club above their station and as a result, are probably the most aggressive in the whole of the country. The Norwegian immediately impressed the locals by speaking German from the start and coming across as very open, with great humour throughout. He even once joked when his phone rang that it was his wife calling to ask if he had been sacked yet!

FC COPENHAGEN

I am sure that Wolves fans are more interested in things that happen on the pitch and for that we have to move to the reason he got the FC Kӧln job in the first place, which was his impressive stint at FC Copenhagen. Under his predecessors, Kent Karlsson and Roy Hodgson – who Solbakken played for before suffering a career-ending heart attack – the club had won three of the previous four national league titles. Therefore, Solbakken came into a very stable situation, but still excelled in the job.

How? By winning five of the next six championships and turning Copenhagen into consistently the best Scandinavian team in Europe. Despite accusations of turning the club into a one team behemoth within the domestic league without real competition, not only did they regularly achieve a place in the group stages of either the Champions League or UEFA Cup but by 2009 they started to make the knockout stages, losing to Manchester City, Olympique Marseilles and then Chelsea in last season’s Champions League.

It was a run that forced interest from several places, not just FC Kӧln, with Solbakken signing a letter of intent with his native Norwegian national team, before pulling out to go south to Germany.

A somewhat impressive résumé, albeit one that may well be better suited for Celtic if Rangers do indeed go bust, than for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship. His biggest problem may well be winning his new team over, as Roger Johnson announced shortly after hearing the news of Solbaaken’s appointment: “I don’t know who the guy is?”

His view will be very similar to a lot of those in the Molineux dressing room, a very overwhelmingly (in modern terms) British one.

British football isn’t entirely a new entity for Solbakken who on these shores before, experiencing six Premier League games and one goal for Joe Kinnear’s Wimbledon side in the late nineties.

However, the majority of the players will simply not know who Solbakken is and even if he was to get his medals out and show the players, the low standing of the Danish Superliga may well put him in a position where he will find it very difficult to garner the respect of the team.

Should the Norwegian find his authority undermined then the Wolves players can be forewarned to expect an authority-stamping move similar to the decision to take the captaincy off of Podolski. Although experience may tell the new Wolves boss that something similar at another relatively unstable club may cause ructions.

One thing is true though, the pressure of managing the club will not overwhelm Solbakken, even if things struggle to begin with. As he has mentioned in many interviews, being clinically dead for several minutes, as he was in that aforementioned heart attack in a training session in 2001, changes his perception on life and will not let problems at Wolves overtake is life;

“Something like that definitely changes some things,” Solbakken said in a 2006 interview. “When I go into a training session or a game you don’t think about it; you are just completely focused on what you are doing and want to win at every cost. I guess it is afterwards, when things have calmed down, that it has helped me differentiate between what is really important in life and what isn’t.”

Wolves fans will be hoping that a swift return to the Premier League is on that ‘important’ list.

Ian Wright has always come across as one of those great characters of the game. One of those players the game so badly lacks currently, as the money and celebrity factors surrounding football have caused the levels of pure passion to dwindle.

Wright was a man characterised by passion, a man who absolutely loved what he did when playing the game, before taking that into the gantries as a pundit.

His enthusiasm and passion for England has always come across impressively, with his participation at international level clearly meaning the world to him, and only restricted by the vast level of competition posed to him at the time.

Taking time out from filming the official Carlsberg Euro 2012 commercial, Wright appeared thoughtful and as lively as ever, although his natural enthusiasm for the national team was sheltered by a degree of reservation, cautious not to fail victim to the ease at which we raise our hopes whenever England enter major Finals.

“I don’t think we’ve got a good chance. I base that purely on how prepared we are. We don’t know who’s playing centre-back, we don’t know who’s playing up front. It’s not ideal preparations to go into a major tournament.

“People will talk about Denmark and how they came off the beach to win Euro ’92, but they had a coach in place and a team that knew each other. We have no steady team and don’t know who our captain is going to be. It’s not ideal.

“I think that we should go into it not expecting too much and anything we get, we should take wholeheartedly.”

The management situation is something that particularly grates with Wright, who was an outspoken critic of Fabio Capello’s regime. And he believes it is a problem for England that there were so few candidates to succeed the Italian.

“It was quite baffling really, because his (Capello’s) CV was up there in respect of the teams and the players that he’s had. Like that AC Milan team which we all remember was unbelievable.

“I think that the last World Cup was about as embarrassing as it gets for England in respect of the way we performed. Then to top it off Germany really gave us a good hiding to really compound everything. I thought he should have been a lot more culpable for that, there should have been some form of inquest as to why we performed so badly after qualifying so comfortably.

“It’s been embarrassing that we haven’t got a queue of candidates (for the England job). We don’t seem to be giving English managers a chance to manage at the top end of football so that they can actually get the experience in the Champions League. You need that experience when it comes to managing top players with attitudes and egos and temperaments.”

Some have suggested that the lack of expectation from the public and the media could help the players this summer and the former England striker feels this could be the case, although more in hope than expectation.

“Being an England player myself, you do feel a certain pressure from the media and everybody who wants England to do so well. Because there are good players in England, there have always been good players in England, so we’ve really underachieved at international level in respect to winning things.

“Things compounded when Greece won the European Championships, it made us feel that maybe we should have achieved a lot more.

“But I think there is a lot of pressure on the boys and I don’t think it is something that is easy to handle. People think it’s easy to handle, but maybe going into a competition like this without too much expectation, maybe the guys will just play with freedom.”

Wright played for England in a time when the country was blessed with strikers. The Arsenal marksman found himself competing for a starting berth with the likes of Alan Shearer, Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole and Robbie Fowler, whilst the emergence of Michael Owen proved yet another obstacle to overcome.

Now England find themselves heading into a tournament with only one striker recognised as international class, with Wayne Rooney also being forced out of the opening two matches through suspension.

Wright laments the situation, but is at a loss to explain why England fail to produce any strikers of sustained quality.

“Who is there? I don’t know who’s going. Is it going to be (Daniel) Sturridge who came on and did well against Holland? Danny Welbeck, who else is there? Jermain Defoe isn’t starting a lot recently, Darren Bent is injured. Is Andy Carroll showing the kind of form to go to the Euros and light it up? I don’t think so.

“People are talking about Grant Holt, who has had one good season in the Premier League. There isn’t a lot to choose from and that is a sad state of affairs.”

England has struggled to produce players of a world class standing for a number of years now, and Wright is adamant that our problem is trying to re-create the styles of other countries, as opposed to sticking with what made England great.

“Chris Waddle and John Barnes were people that could play at high tempo and were technically very good. Focus on a game that England can play, that other teams are uncomfortable with. It would be hard to do it, because to play at certain temperatures or certain tempos and play technical football, is going to be hard. But if you’ve got defensive midfielders, which is very much the norm now, in front of the back four, then the forward players should be able to go forward and express themselves.

“I think we put too much emphasis on worrying about how Spain play and how other teams play rather than thinking about what we’re like when we’re playing good football, like we did in ’96 or 1990. We played some really good football, top quality players with real endeavour and vigour and passion. Nobody could live with us.

“Whether we’ve got the kind of players to replicate that kind of performance, I don’t think we have. But that’s what we should be trying to do, teach our youngsters a high tempo, technical game.”

Common consensus amongst people is that English footballers have too many distractions to make themselves a success, with Emmanuel Petit saying that an alcohol culture plagues British football.

Fellow Arsenal legend Wright agrees to some extent that there are some distractions for footballers, but does not feel that alcohol is a problem for the game to be worried about.

“The fact that a young player, a 20 year old player has got 4 or 5 cars, maybe before they play 100 games, maybe that can be distracting.

“It’s going to take a certain kind of player not to be distracted by the glamour that comes with becoming a successful footballer or player with massive potential. It all comes down to being with the right manager and what the player wants to achieve. Do they want to do something or say ‘I’ve got 25 watches and 7 cars?’

“Our culture is drinking beer, but I’ve been with Italian players and Spanish players and they will drink and smoke pre-match. I’m not saying that if we did that, it would spiral out of control, but if you look at different cultures, that’s just the way we are.

“If you’re a professional person and have got a professional attitude, it doesn’t make a difference what your drinking culture was. I was in a football club with a massive drinking culture, but we achieved everything that we wanted to achieve.

“People want to put too much emphasis on that, and that’s a problem for society, not just for football.”  

It looks set to be a long hard summer for England, when even one of their biggest and most passionate supporters fails to see any way in which England can compete for glory at Euro 2012, or future years on the horizon.

Ian Wright was speaking during a break from filming the latest Carlsberg advert. Carlsberg is The Official Beer of The England Football Team and sponsor of UEFA EURO 2012™.

The television commercial will be available on tele from Friday 11th May or you can watch it below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Djibril Cisse could turn out to be the most important man in the Premier League this weekend

All games 15:00 kick-off.

CHELSEA v. BLACKBURN, Stamford Bridge

With their loss against Liverpool on Tuesday, Chelsea have nothing left to play for in the league this season, and all eyes will be on their Champions League final against Bayern Munich on the 19^th. For Blackburn too, the outcome of this game means nothing – they will be playing their football in the Championship next season regardless.

For this reason, the game may not be too exciting a match-up, Chelsea probably more interested in their players coming through the encounter unscathed than the result itself. Blackburn have put in some decent displays without result this year, but the demoralising effect of their relegation this week and the huge shadow cast over the club currently should mean Chelsea still have enough to edge it.

What to watch out for: Debuts. With nothing riding on the outcome, each manager may take the opportunity to try out some new faces.

Possible Line-Ups:

Chelsea: Turnbull; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Bertrand; Essien, Romeu, Ramires, Malouda, Sturridge; Torres

Blackburn: Robinson; Lowe, Dann, Hanley, Olsson; Orr, Pedersen, N’Zonzi, Olsson; Hoilet, Yakubu

Recent form: Chelsea – WDDWLL; Blackburn – LLLWLL

Prediction: 1-0

EVERTON v. NEWCASTLE, Goodison Park

Newcastle have had a wonderful season and a guaranteed Champions League spot is still up for grabs should they beat Everton at Goodison. Everton meanwhile are playing simply for the pride of finishing the top team on Merseyside, and the galvanising effects this can have on David Moyes’ squad are not to be underestimated.

Ultimately, though, it is Newcastle who need the result here more, and the Magpies who are likely to chase it. With the likes of Ba and Cisse upfront, it is difficult to see them failing to score, and their essential attacking approach may mean they have too much for Everton.

What to watch out for: Amongst the many things Moyes has brought to Everton is a great obstinacy, and they will be doing everything in their power to block Newcastle’s route to the Champions League qualifying spots.

Possible Line-Ups:

Everton: Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Baines; Osman, Gibson, Fellaini, Pienaar; Cahill, Jelavic

Newcastle: Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Perch, Gutierrez; Guthrie, Tiote, Cabaye, Ben Arfa; Cisse, Ba

Recent form: Everton – DWDWDD; Newcastle – WWWLWL

Prediction: 1-1

MAN CITY. v. QPR, Etihad Stadium

This should be the game in which Manchester City claim their debut Premiership title. QPR need to take points from City in order to guarantee their top-flight survival, but the Sky Blues possess too much attacking prowess to allow this to happen.

Despite City’s goal difference already being vastly superior to that of title rivals Manchester United, they will want to make absolutely sure there is no way their neighbours can turn it around, and so QPR may find themselves on the end of a real battering here.

Suggestions that City will suffer from big-game nerves should not come to fruition – these players have been in these situations before, it is only the colour of their shirts that may have differed.

What to watch out for: Mario Balotelli. Should this game not be going his way, City boss Roberto Mancini will likely look to the hot-headed young Italian. Should he be able to provide a tell-tale contribution, the situation is perfect for one of his unique brand of home-made t-shirts.

Possible Line-Ups:

Man City: Hart; Richards, Kolo Toure, Kompany, Clichy; Barry, Nasri, Yaya Toure, Silva; Aguero, Tevez

QPR: Kenny; Onuoha, Ferdinand, Hill, Young; Barton, Diakite, Derry, Taarabt; Cisse, Zamora

Recent form: Man City – LWWWWW; QPR – LWLWLW

Prediction: 4-0

NORWICH v. ASTON VILLA, Carrow Road

Norwich will wish to produce a decent performance in order to thank the fans for their support during what has been a very successful season for Paul Lambert’s team. Lambert will almost certainly still be present at Carrow Road next season, and under his stewardship the Canaries are perfectly set to continue their improvement.

The same cannot be said of Aston Villa. If the majority of fans get their way, it will not be Alex McLeish at the helm at Villa Park. Many Villains fans have been unimpressed with the uninspiring brand of football chosen by McLeish as the team seem to have taken a step back from the promising Martin O’Neil era only a few seasons ago. Whether it is McLeish or someone else in charge next season, they will need to find a way for their team to score goals away from Darren Bent, or risk another disappointing year.

What to watch out for: Dissent. Should this be another lacklustre display from Villa, the travelling fans will surely have a lot to say about their manager and club situation.

Possible Line-Ups:

Norwich: Ruddy; Ward, Whitbread, Bennett, Martin; Naughton, Fox, Surman, Hoolahan; Holt

Aston Villa: Given; Lichaj, Collins, Baker, Warnock; Gardner, Herd, Agbonlahor, Ireland, Bannon; Weimann

Recent form: Norwich – DWLLLD; Aston Villa – DLDLDD

Prediction: 1-1

STOKE v. BOLTON, Britannia Stadium

Bolton have to win if they want to be playing in this league again next year – it is that simple. They have endured a difficult year, having to overcome poor displays as well as tragedies such as Fabrice Muamba’s cardiac arrest, but a victory here and a failure to win from QPR may mean they can put this year to rest.

Stoke have enjoyed another season in which they solidified their Premiership status, and will be glad to be away from the relegation drama at the bottom. As ever with Stoke, they will make it very difficult for Bolton to score – any hopes Wanderers may have of erasing the goal deficit between themselves and QPR will have been extinguished at conception.

If Bolton are to win, Owen Coyle must light a fire under his men for one last time this season and hope that their willingness to win can drive them towards a hard-fought victory here. Stoke will not make it easy for their visitors, and I just do not see Bolton having enough to win here.

What to watch out for: Kevin Davies. There are very few footballing situations yet to be experienced by this old hand, and he will need to provide the calming influence on his team, keeping his teammates focused on the game and away from panic.

Possible Line-Ups:

Stoke: Begovic; Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson; Pennant, Whitehead, Whelan, Etherington; Crouch, Walters

Bolton: Bogdan; Ricketts, Ream, Wheater, Alonso; Miyaichi, Davies, Reo-Coker, Petrov; Klasnic, Ngog

Recent form: Stoke – WDLDDL; Bolton – LDWDLD

Prediction: 1-1

How many packets of gum will Sir Alex get through on Sunday?

SUNDERLAND v. MAN UTD, Stadium of Light

This is the worst time for Sunderland to be playing United. The Red Devils know that in all likelihood, anything less than a big win will see them relinquish their title to City – and so a big win is what they will chase.

This season has been remarkable in that United have failed to see the championship out as one would expect. In years gone past, Alex Ferguson’s men would wrap the title up with a minimum of fuss. Not so this season. Whether they have been rattled by the emergence of a real threat from Manchester City or their squad is simply weaker than in previous seasons, United have made heavy work of it this time around, and may pay the price.

Regardless, I still fully expect them to beat a Sunderland side whose form has tailed off dramatically of late, and it will depend on the result at the Etihad as to who finishes the afternoon as champions.

What to watch out for: Chewing gum. Ferguson is famous for the amount he chews, but this is one of the most important games he has ever been involved in. Expect his jaw to be working overtime.

Possible Line-Ups:

Sunderland: Mignolet; Bardsley, Turner, Kilgallon, Colback; Larsson, Gardner, Cattermole, McClean; Sessegnon, Bendtner

Man Utd: Da Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Carrick, Scholes, Jones, Valencia; Welbeck, Rooney

Recent form: Sunderland – DLDDDL; Man Utd – WLWDLW

Prediction: 0-2

SWANSEA v. LIVERPOOL, Liberty Stadium

Swansea’s attractive, attacking form of football has proved successful and drawn favourable comparisons from all corners this season, and the Swans will be able to reflect happily on their first season in the Premier League. Their form has dipped of late, but they will be pleased with their showing regardless.

This is in stark contrast to their rivals. Liverpool will not be pleased with their league performance, and no attempts to mask their struggles with the Carling Cup will hide the fact that the Reds have been well below par. They are finding their feet and their form of late, however, and the resurgent Andy Carroll still has a lot to prove to Reds fans. If he is able to continue his recent from he will be one step closer to finding a place in the hearts of the Anfield faithful, and perhaps a place in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for Euro 2012 in the process.

What to watch out for: Long balls. Both teams have performed better this season when the ball is kept on the floor, and so lofted passing may be rare. With Carroll on the pitch, however, the temptation to send the ball to him through the air will always exist.

Possible Line-Ups:

Swansea: Vorm; Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor; Routledge, Britton, Sigurdsson, Allen, Sinclair; Graham

Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique; Henderson, Shelvey, Maxi, Downing; Suarez, Carroll

Recent form: Swansea – LLWDDL; Liverpool – DWLWLW

Prediction: 1-2

TOTTENHAM v. FULHAM, White Hart Lane

Along with Arsenal and Newcastle, Tottenham remain in the hunt for third place and the final guaranteed Champions League spot. It seems likely that they will need to beat Fulham to get it, as well as relying on results from elsewhere, and Harry Redknapp will encourage his men to get forward at all opportunities in pursuit of goals which could prove crucial.

Fulham’s away from has not been the best this year, and Spurs will fancy their chances against their London rivals in a game which ultimately holds significance only for the home team.

What to watch out for:

Possible Line-Ups:

Tottenham: Friedel; Walker, Gallas, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto; Sandro, Modric, Parker, van der Vaart, Bale; Adebayor

Fulham: Schwarzer; Kelly, Hangeland, Hughes, Riise; Murphy, Dembele, Ruiz, Dempsey, Duff; Pogrebnyak

Recent form: Tottenham – DLLWWD; Fulham – WDWLWW

Prediction:

WEST BROM v. ARSENAL

West Brom have been impressive this season, playing attractive football under Roy Hodgson and taking more points than many would have predicted at the start of the year. A 10^th placed finish will be seen as a job well done by all involved.

Arsenal have recovered from a disastrous beginning to their season and now have one hand on third place and Champions League football next season. They need a win here to make sure of this, though, and will be all guns blazing from the get-go. A year with no Champions League would be disastrous for the Gunners, and they will be hell-bent on making sure they secure third spot.

What to watch out for: A celebratory farewell for Hodgson. Whilst most Baggies fans will surely be sad to see him go, they will be aware that the job he leaves them for is the highest accolade an English manager can receive – and will wish him all the best with his future endeavours.

Possible Line-Ups:

West Brom: Foster; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Brunt, Andrews, Scharner, Tchoyi; Long, Odemwingie

Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Arteta, Ramsey; Walcott, Rosicky, van Persie

Recent form: West Brom – WLWWDD; Arsenal – WWLDDD

Prediction: 1-2

WIGAN v. WOLVES, DW Stadium

Wigan have survived another flirt with the drop – it must be frustrating for Wigan fans to see their team struggle for much of the season only to turn it on when they really must. Still, the Latics recent from has been nothing short of outstanding and has included several big teams amongst their scalps, and there is little reason to suggest that impressive run will end here.

Wolves have deserved their relegation and will have a lot of work to do over the close season. They will bring a fighting attitude to the DW just as they displayed against Everton last week, but Wigan should out-pass, out-play and out-score them on the day.

What to watch out for: Wolves’ Matt Jarvis and Kevin Doyle, amongst potential others. It is unlikely that the Wolves men will remain at Molineux next season, and may well use this match as a reminder to anyone all those watching that their talent is of Premiership quality.

Possible Line-Ups:

Wigan: Al Habsi; Alcaraz, Caldwell, Figueroa, Boyce; McCarthy, McArthur, Beausejour, Moses; Di Santo, Maloney

Wolves: Hennessey; Stearman, Johnson, Bassong, Ward; Kightly, Davis, Edwards, Jarvis; Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher

Recent form: Wigan – LWWLWW; Wolves – LLDLDD

Prediction: 3-1

Follow James Tremain on Twitter: @james_tremain

Chelsea's ghost goal during last month's FA Cup semi-final

Plans to have goal-line technology in place around Premier League grounds next season look to be over.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes it is unlikely to be introduced to the English top flight next season as the final phase of testing on two systems started this week, with the idea to have a winning bid in place for the new season.

The two, Hawk-Eye and GoalRef, are to undergo stringent examination with a decision about its implementation expected at a meeting on July 2 of the sport’s rule-making body, the International Football Association Board, IFAB.

But Scudamore does not believe it is possible to bring in a new system ahead of the 2012/13 Premier League campaign.

“It’s imminent and we’ll look to put it in front of our clubs as soon as we practically can in terms of implementation,” he said.

“But it is unlikely to be for next season given the time scales involved with FIFA approving it and the start of our season, there’s far too many logistical things that would need to happen so it’s unlikely for next season. Perhaps the season after is within the time frame to do it properly.”

Hawk-Eye managing director Steve Carter believes their version of goal-line technology is on-course to be licensed by FIFA. The British company and German-Danish firm GoalRef are vying to be approved as authorised suppliers of the technology and were chosen for the next testing phase by IFAB.

The second phase of testing on Hawk-Eye began this week at Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium. The process will continue today and next week the system will be tried in the Hampshire Senior Cup final between Eastleigh and AFC Totton, with another match to be tested before IFAB’s final decision a day after this summer’s Euro 2012 Final.

“It is tremendously exciting and it will be the highest profile and biggest sport that we do if we’re successful,” Carter said. “FIFA have appointed an independent scientific research institution called EMPA and they basically set a series of tests that we need to perform against.

“Subject to Hawk-Eye passing those tests, hopefully we will be approved for use as an official goal-line technology adjudicator. All of the results are confidential.
We don’t get to find out, but every indication is that everything is running very smoothly.”

Hawk-Eye’s system uses seven high-speed cameras at each end of the ground to calculate a three-dimensional position of the ball, while GoalRef uses a chip in the ball which is monitored by magnetic fields in the goal.

Premier League chiefs hoped both systems could be available for the start of next season if approved by IFAB, but Carter was keen not to talk about timescales.

“It varies from ground to ground on how long it takes to install the system,” he said. “At the moment all of our concentration and energy is on doing as well as we can, making the technology as good as possible and making sure that we get excellent results from phase two.

“The roll out of that technology is something we have a lot of experience in through our work with cricket and tennis, but it is not something we are focusing on at the moment.”

Asked if it was feasible to have it in place for the start of next season, he added: “It is impossible for me to say right now. You would have to survey the grounds and there would be a lot of logistical things that we would need to go through and at the moment I don’t have that information.”

Tiago Manuel Dias Correia, aka Bebe signed by Manchester United for £7.4m

DI MATTEO FUTURE TO BE DECIDED AFTER FINAL

Caretaker Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo’s future will not be decided until after the Champions League Final. Di Matteo, who has not only steadied the ship since the sacking of Andre Villas Boas, but has also won the FA Cup, will apparently have to do more to impress owner Roman Abramovich. Missing out on fourth spot won’t have helped Di Matteo’s case, but it’s well known that Abramovich prizes the Champions League above all else, if he were to bring that back to Stamford Bridge – and with injuries and suspensions, the cards are stacked against him – he may just get the nod.

Chelsea fans, would you rather Di Matteo had tried harder for fourth spot and fielded a stronger team against Liverpool in midweek, or are you happy to pin your hopes on the Final?

MAN CITY LEAD UNITED IN CHASE FOR HOTTEST TRANSFER PAIR

The names of Eden Hazard and Edinson Cavani are the two most coveted of this summer’s transfer market and it appears that the blue half of Manchester have stolen a march on their neighbours as the chase to strengthen for next seasons tussle begins before the this year is settled.

Another name that’s been doing the rounds is Fulham midfielder Moussa Dembele, with the Manchester clubs set to battle it out with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Liverpool for the Belgium international. The rumour-mill fancy him as a top 6 player so watch Dembele end up at Aston Villa…

POLICE TO SPEAK TO MAN UNITED

Man United’s purchase of Portuguese under-21 forward Bebe is to be scrutinised by Portuguese police. The £7.4m deal with Vitoria Guimaraes reportedly included a £3m pay-out to Jorge Mendes’s Gestifute agency, and it’s this in particular that the police are interested in. The probe is part of a larger investigation into Guimaraes’ finances, as they recorded bumper profits last year.

After the deal went through, United boss Alex Ferguson admitted that he had never seen Bebe play when he signed for the club. Months later, and nor has anyone else.

BLACKBURN IS NOT FOR SALE: VENKY’S

Indian chicken tycoons Venky’s have reportedly insisted that the club is not for sale. The club was relegated to the Championship following their recent loss to Wigan, and many thought that this would push Venky’s towards selling. However, it would appear that Rovers fans are in for another season of misery, as both Venky’s and Steve Kean insist they are going nowhere. They’re certainly right about that.

ON THE CONTINENT

Rumours that Arsenal were on the verge of completing a £17.7m deal for Yann M’Vila have been quashed by Arsene Wenger. Expect to see them bidding twice as much for someone half as good as with five minutes to go before the transfer window closes.

Javier Pastore has admitted that PSG are interested in buying Gonzalo Higuain. Could the moneyed Parisians be about to assert their dominance in world football?

IN OTHER NEWS

Craig Bellamy has been included in the Wales squad for their game in New York against Mexico. There were rumours that Bellamy was about to retire, but with the striker in fine fettle, he may feel he’s got a few years left in his legs yet.

Exeter City director of football Steve Perryman is reportedly ‘very ill’ after a heart operation. The former Spurs man has been in intensive care since falling ill during Exeter’s last home game against Sheffield United. We wish him a speedy recovery to full health.