The first knockout round of the Champions League begins this week and without much argument, the biggest tie of the round is Arsenal vs Barcelona. The two sides met last season at the quarter final stage of the competition, with Barcelona eventually winning comfortably 6-3 on aggregate.

Once again, the first leg is at the Emirates Stadium and Arsenal fans will be hoping that their side start off better than they did last year. Barcelona played some fantastic football in the first fifteen minutes of the game and very few would argue that those wearing Arsenal shirts were fortunate not to concede a few goals early on.

Barcelona are currently the favourites to win the Champions League this year and they have been on excellent form all season. The majority of people have written off Arsenal’s chances of beating Barcelona over two legs, but do Arsenal have a realistic chance of pulling off an upset?

Usually at this point of the season, Arsenal have several key players out injured which upsets the balance of the side and causes huge problems when the team faces a great side like Barcelona. This time around, however, the Gunners only have Thomas Vermaelen and Lukasz Fabianski out as long-term injuries. Samir Nasri is doubtful, but he should certainly be back in time for the second leg.

For the majority of the season, Arsenal have only been playing with one man up front. They started the season by using Marouane Chamakh in this role because Robin van Persie was out injured, but now that the Dutch striker is back and in form, he will certainly start the game.

It would be anticipated that Arsenal will line up with five in midfield, with Alex Song and Jack Wilshere both playing in a deeper role, but supporting Cesc Fabregas in the middle of the park when they can. Theo Walcott has been playing well in recent weeks and should start out in the right, with Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky most likely battling it out for the wide left position.

Arsenal’s defence should lineup with Gael Clichy at left back, Bacary Sagna at right back and Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou as the centre halves. In goal, Arsenal may decide to use Manuel Almunia due to his experience rather than Wojciech Szczesny, who has been playing for the club regularly in the league.

With this type of set up, Arsenal will need to keep the ball for extended periods of time, which is not an easy task against Barcelona. As Barcelona proved against Real Madrid in December, they are not just a team who work hard when they have the ball, they can also press extremely well and cause the opposing team to make several mistakes.

Arsenal will have to be at the top of their game and take any chance that is give to them. They should be looking to use Walcott’s pace against either Abidal or Maxwell down the right hand side and produce good deliveries to van Persie, who has been on good goal scoring form for the past couple of months. The absence of Carlos Puyol for Barcelona will be a major positive for the Gunners. Arsenal’s defence would be the main worry, especially in the central areas. The team do not look as solid without Vermaelen and coming up against players like Pedro, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and David Villa may prove very difficult for them.

A lot of pressure is off Arsenal because they are definitely the underdogs going into this match, which should help to ease their nerves. If they are to win this tie, you would have to say that they need to win the match on Wednesday night because the game at the Nou Camp will be their toughest of the season so far. Arsenal were destroyed at the Nou Camp last season and many would argue that Barcelona are a better side this season. Arsenal, however, also seem to be on better form this season, so it should be a fantastic match.

Written by Eddie Smith, a sports writer who likes to talk about new football shirts.

The atmosphere at St James’ Park ahead of Newcastle’s clash with Liverpool was one of bemusement, anger and frustration.

After all, the Geordie faithful had ensured another drama-filled week courtesy of chairman Mike Ashley.

The controversial United owner sacked popular manager Chris Hughton on Monday – despite the club being safely in mid-table – and replaced him with Alan Pardew, who allegedly knew Ashley through a shared love of a London casino.

The supporters, understandably angry at what was needless meddling in what had been up to now a steady season, made their feelings known before the game, with chants and banners in support of Hughton and vilifying Ashley.

When in the ground though they did what they do best, providing a rocking atmosphere for the two set of players.

And on the pitch, Newcastle demonstrated why Hughton was so popular with the fans.

The team he moulded was full of heart, passion, desire and skill and came away with a deserved win over Roy Hodgson’s men that lifted them up to eighth in the league.

And in Andy Carroll they have a young forward worthy of carrying that famous number nine shirt on his back and, as the football betting indicates, capable of netting plenty of goals.

A menace throughout, he gave Liverpool Centre backs Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Martin Skirtel a torrid time with an old-school centre forwards performance harking back to the days of fellow Geordie number nines Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer.

In the wake of Hughton’s sacking speculation grew that Carroll would be sold in the January transfer window in order to raise funds for Pardew to spend elsewhere.

However, the 21-year-old responded by reaffirming his commitment to the Toon Army and showed it by lashing home a magnificent third in stoppage time to seal the 3-1 win and the Premier League betting offers suggest he should bag plenty more this season.

Getting the fans onside and earning the players trust were two of the priorities on Alan Pardew’s list when he took charge this week. After Saturday’s performance maintaining the form of Andy Carroll is another.

If you were to go ahead and ask Roman Abramovich what would satisfy him in football terms, he would say the Champions League trophy. Similarly, if you asked the Glazer family what they would need to be satisfied in club football, they would probably admit that they would like to see the club help them to amass an even greater profit capable of wiping out their personal debts and adding to their private fortunes. This is perhaps not as laudable as Abramovich’s aim but is nevertheless understandable.

Compare these two to Mike Ashley and it appears that nothing could possibly satisfy a man who seems to want everything, but has no idea he is going to get it, leading him to be inevitably and perpetually unsatisfied with any manager whom he chooses to appoint on an apparent whim. The football rumours suggest Alan Pardew will be next, and you have to wonder how long he will last.

Although this might be acceptable if his lack of satisfaction didn’t affect the very hopes and dreams of thousands of passionate fans, his actions have also massively held the club back from achieving its full potential, which has almost certainly only served to increase his sense of frustration at the lack of success he has seen at the club since he took over.

Should Ashley ever wish to enjoy success at Newcastle United, then perhaps he should take a page out of the Arsenal board’s book and stand back and put full faith in a manager, even when things are not going to plan, rather than follow the Real Madrid model of constant interference, which has more than often failed to produce the trophies that have been so badly desired. They’ll be a few Premier League bets placed on Newcastle going down this season.

However, with Ashley still appearing to lack the good grace to step back from the club and let the professionals run it properly, the next Newcastle manager may already be doomed before they have even started.

Imagine holding a position that allows you to decide the future of the most popular game in the world, albeit one that you are really not too bothered about if you’re being honest, as long as it still brings in the cash and the punters. Add to this the fact that you’re able to be wined and dined by the world’s most powerful people and yes, you’ve guessed it, you are living the life of a FIFA executive member. Whilst this is clearly an overly simplified description of the role and attitude of FIFA executive members, it does hopefully portray a sense of just how much the odds are stacked against FIFA reform.

With England the favourites for a long time on odds comparison sites to win their bid, the FA were clearly enraged that they were bitten after deciding that they wanted to jump into a pool of sharks when they chose to bid for the right to host the 2018 World Cup and have now launched a staunch attack on the organisation that they have attempted to woo in recent times.

However, with the FA forced to admit that they cannot leave FIFA, they have already withdrawn their only negotiating weapon in the battle to force through reform, with any threat not to bid again for the right to host the World Cup likely to be laughed off by FIFA.

Despite all this, the fact remains that FIFA know they have seen their reputation severely damaged by the bidding process and the media reports that have surrounded it, something that they know has impacted upon their credibility across the globe. If they are to attempt to recover this credibility, they may have to start thinking about possibly reforming, or at least altering, their cherished positions as kingmakers, which begs the question as to whether they actually care about their reputation.

The fans were chanting the name of Gerard Houiller long into a cold winter’s night at Anfield, but the fact it was the Liverpool supporters rather than the Villa faithful speaks volumes about the visiting side’s performance.
Liverpool, without key trio Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres, strolled a 3-0 win that lifted them back into the top half of the table and left Villa floundering in 16th place.

It was an unhappy return to Anfield for Houllier, who managed the club for six years between 1998 and 2004 and remains popular with the reds support.

It wasn’t just the defeat but the manner of it that will worry the Frenchman though. A weakened Liverpool side barely had to break a sweat from the moment they took the lead in the 14th minute. Villa’s lack of fight was alarming to say the least.

This was the Midlands club’s fourth defeat in a row, and with only one win in their last ten league games they are now just two points off the drop zone and the Premier League tips even hint they could be relegated.

After several seasons sat comfortably in the top six Villa fans had hope this would be the year they finally put up a sustained challenge for the champions league places. But Martin O’Neill’s shock resignation a week before the new season left their plans in disarray and Houiller’s arrival has signalled a period of transition, even if the Premier League betting predictions suggested they’d do well.

Just four wins all year though is not the return chairman Randy Lerner will have wanted when he brought the former Lyon boss to the club in September and if they are not careful they could be sucked into a relegation battle.