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Reina reacts to Torres slump

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Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina believes criticism of his team-mate Fernando Torres (14/1 to be Premier League Top Goalscorer) has been unfair and has blamed the rest of the team for his lack of goals.

Torres scored just his second goal of the season as Liverpool eased the pressure with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, a result which still sees them languishing in the relegation zone.

The Spain international has been a peripheral figure so far this term and has been unable to replicate his previous goal-scoring feats for the Anfield club, which have seen him garner 74 goals in 127 appearances in all competitions since moving from Atletico Madrid in 2007.

With the off-field problems now seemingly sorted out, Liverpool can concentrate on the task of climbing away from the drop zone and making a move to the right end of the table and Sunday’s much-improved display will have given the Reds fans and management renewed hope.

A fit and firing Torres will be central to Liverpool’s resurgence and Reina believes that the end to the striker’s goal-scoring drought can be a catalyst for the player to make a regular appearance on the score sheet.

“All strikers are about the goals,” he said. “They want to score them and they want to score the winners like Fernando did against Blackburn. I think he can build up now to what he was like of old.”

The Reds shot-stopper drew a comparison with another high-profile Spaniard, David Villa, who has struggled to find the back of the net for Barcelona in La Liga, after moving from Valencia in the summer.

Reina believes the fault does not always lie with the striker but with those who provide the service.

“They are both great players but when strikers are not scoring people are always disappointed in them,” he added. “It’s not fair. I don’t think we have been assisting him like we should, particularly in the last few weeks.

“He has not been able to do anything at all. We know he is the type of player that can win a game just like that, but we can’t expect him to keep doing it on his own. We have to feed him in. That’s the point.”

Liverpool’s next outing is a trip to the Reebok Stadium to pay Bolton on Sunday and another three points could see Roy Hodgson’s side (8/5 to finish in top six) make a significant move up the table, with so many clubs separated by just a few points.

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Capello tells Rooney to step up

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England boss Fabio Capello has told striker Wayne Rooney if he does not rediscover his form, his place in the national side is under threat (England 8/1 to win 2012 European Championships).

The Manchester United star caused a storm last week by stating he was ready to call time on his Old Trafford career, but then had a change of heart and agreed a contract extension with United to keep him at the club until 2015 (Manchester United 9/2 to win the 2010-11 Premier League).

The 25-year-old’s private life has also dominated the front and back pages in recent weeks, but Capello claims the only thing that counts for him is the striker’s actions on the pitch. With just one league goal to his name this season, a penalty against West Ham, Capello has told Rooney he needs to find his form or risk losing his place in the England side.

“If he’s (in form) I’ll play him, otherwise no,” Capello told RAI. “For anything else, you’ve got to ask (Manchester United boss Sir Alex) Ferguson.”

Rooney has struggled for form since the end of last season and failed to deliver for England at the World Cup in South Africa during the summer.

Ferguson stated earlier in the campaign the striker was suffering with an ankle problem, which Rooney later denied, although he is now sidelined with an ankle injury which will see him miss Tuesday’s Carling Cup showdown with Wolves at Old Trafford.

Mexican striker Javier Hernandez is expected to be rested, after hitting a brace against Stoke on Sunday, and Ferguson could hand Michael Owen the chance to impress against Mick McCarthy’s men.

The United boss set to make plenty of changes to his starting XI in order to give his first choice players a rest ahead of a crucial Premier League showdown with Spurs on Saturday (Manchester United 2/7, Draw 4/1, Wolves 11/1 – Match Betting).

Rooney could possibly return to action on November 10 when United make the short trip across Manchester to face fierce rivals Manchester City at Eastlands, despite initial reports suggesting he could be out of action for over three weeks.

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Only way is up for Mowbray

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New Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray says he remains confident he can turn around the club’s terrible start to the season and get the Teessiders (10/1 to be promoted) up through the Championship play-offs.

The former Celtic, Hibernian and West Brom boss takes over from Gordon Strachan after he resigned following a woeful start to the season.

Despite having started the campaign as heavy favourites to win the Championship, Middlesbrough currently find themselves inside the bottom three and have won just three games all season.

Mowbray takes charge of a team packed with players who use to play in the SPL and will be tasked with turning them into promotion candidates rather than relegation fodder.

Hopes will be high on Teesside that Mowbray has what it takes to save Boro having been a favourite son of theirs during his playing days.

Mowbray made 424 appearances for Middlesbrough after his debut in 1982 before eventually leaving in 1990 to join Celtic having helped his home town club escape liquidation and climb up through the divisions to the top flight.

The 46-year-old arrives back in Middlesbrough having endured a torrid time in charge of Celtic, getting the boot from the Glasgow giants after winning just 17 of 30 league matches in his brief nine month tenure.

Mowbray will hope he can enjoy similar levels of success to the ones he had at Hibernian and West Brom, helping the Baggies gain promotion in his second season in charge.

However, his fourth managerial position could be the toughest of his career with Boro having not won any of their last six matches and having picked up just one point on the road all season.

Despite the club’s current position Mowbray believes he can change Boro’s fortunes and is even talking about promotion.

“The play-off scenario is that your hanging onto the tails, rather than looking at top-two, your looking at the top six and that gives you something to shoot at and we have to start now, and looking at the weekend against Bristol City,” said Mowbray.

Saturday’s game against fellow relegation strugglers Bristol City (11/4 – 90 minutes betting) presents Mowbray with the perfect opportunity to get his first win under his belt.

The Robins have won just twice all season and like Boro aren’t living up to their pre-season billing of being promotion candidates.

Mowbray went on to say that he was realising the chance to manage the club he has supported since he was young and claims to be determine to help them get back into the top flight of English football.

“Since I was six or seven I have been a Middlesbrough fan, so when the opportunity arose – it didn’t take me a moment’s thought,” he added.

“This a club I have been passionate about all my life and I have this opportunity to guide them back where they belong. Our ambition is to get the club moving back in the right direction.”

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Any one of five for Fergie

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Sir Alex Ferguson believes that five teams will battle it out for the Premier League title this season (United 9/2 Premier League Outright) and expects it to be a roller coaster ride right until May next year.

Manchester United maintained their challenge near the top of the table with a 2-1 victory at Stoke on Saturday and they are one of three teams currently on 17 points – five behind high-flying Chelsea at the summit.

Tottenham occupy fifth spot with 15 points and, while not mentioning the teams by name, it appears that the United boss believes the current top five will be involved in the title race when the business end of the season approaches.

The Wayne Rooney saga has now been cleared up and Ferguson is looking forward to stringing a run of decent results together after coming through a difficult patch, which has seen then club held to four draws away from home already this term, with just one win on their travels.

The boss feels that, despite Chelsea’s superb start to the campaign, there is plenty of time for one of the chasing pack to make a move and throw a spanner in the works as the season progresses, with United having already visited some of the toughest grounds in the top flight.

“I wouldn’t be betting against it being a five-horse race,” he told US radio station Sirius XM. “I think there is a lot of twists and turns in the race.

“The result at Stoke has had a galvanising effect on the club but we have to motor on now.”

Fergie added: “At the moment Chelsea have done very little wrong but if you look at our programme, we have had a much harder programme than the rest.

“We’ve been to Everton, Sunderland, Stoke, Bolton – all these difficult places where nobody enjoys going, but we’ve got them out of the road now.”

United take on Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night with Ferguson expected to field a virtual second-string side against Mick McCarthy’s men (Man Utd 2/7, Draw 4/1, Wolves 11/1 – Match Betting).

Michael Owen should get a run-out while Javier Hernandez will probably be rested, with Spurs set to visit Old Trafford on Saturday in a mouth-watering clash of two attack-minded teams.

With Liverpool out of the title reckoning, the north Londoners are part of Fergie’s ‘big five’ contenders and victory over Harry Redknapp’s talented outfit would further boost the confidence of a club still coming to terms with the negative publicity surrounding Rooney’s contract negotiations and put down a marker for the rest of the season.

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Wenger seeks Arsenal belief

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Arsene Wenger hopes the 3-0 win at Manchester City will give Arsenal (11/2 Premier League Outright) the belief they need to go on and win the Premier League title.

The Gunners showed their title credentials with a strong performance at Eastlands, with goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner.

Although City were down to ten men after just five minutes, following the dismissal of Dedryck Boyata, Wenger was delighted with the way his side took full advantage.

The Frenchman said: “It was important to us to get a win in a big place to strengthen belief and continue our march forward. I think collectively we completely dominated the game.”

The Gunners (1/7 Top Four Finish) have moved up to second in the table, five points behind leaders Chelsea, who are one of two teams to beat Arsenal this season.

One major plus in recent weeks has been the performances of Lukasz Fabianski, following the Gunners’ early-season goalkeeping issues.

The Polish international kept an impressive clean sheet and has conceded just two goals in three games – during which time Arsenal have scored ten.

Fabianski will have to battle to keep his place when Manuel Almunia returns to full fitness, but Wenger is pleased with the form of the 25-year-old.

The manager stated: “From game to game, he shows what we see in training. Sometimes in our job you have to be steady and fight against opinions.

“It is easier when you know a player has the talent and I believe he has the talent.”

Wenger has been known to blood the Gunners’ youngsters in the Carling Cup (Newcastle 14/5, Draw 13/5, Arsenal 10/11 – Match Betting) , but has indicated that he will send a strong side to Newcastle on Wednesday.

England international Theo Walcott is expected to start at St James’ Park, while Nicklas Bendtner could start after scoring as a substitute at Eastlands having recovered from injury.

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Fabregas not looking to the future

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Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is determined to take the season one game at a time and refuses to get caught up in talk of winning the Premier League title (Arsenal 11/2 to win Premier League).

The 23-year-old was part of the Arsenal side that moved back up to second place with a 3-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday – a result helped by the early sending off of Dedryck Boyata at Eastlands.

The Gunners look back to somewhere near top form, after losing back-to-back Premier League matches against West Brom and Chelsea, with victory over Birmingham City and the weekend triumph over Roberto Mancini’s men.

The north Londoners also hammered Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 in the Champions League last week and are now tied with the two Manchester clubs on 17 points in the race for the English top-flight crown.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that his young side is now beginning to show more maturity after the two set-backs just a couple of weeks ago, but Fabregas prefers just to focus on upcoming events rather than where the club might stand in May.

“It looks like after every win you have to say ‘oh, you are more mature than last year’, but it is just one more game, let’s not get carried away,” he told Arsenal TV Online. “Now we have the (Carling Cup) game against Newcastle, which is the most important one at the moment.

“The time to talk about if we have matured or are better than before will be at the end of the season.”

Wenger has always cut his cloth according to the club’s finances and prefers to bring young players through rather than spend vast sums of money on expensive transfers.

Fabregas is still only 23 and is part of a group of youngsters that, Wenger believes, will bring silverware back to the club in the coming years.

Whether or not the Spaniard is part of that group in the future is open to question as rumours of a move to Barcelona will not go away.

But the World Cup-winning midfielder is determined to let his football do the talking this season and strive to turn the potential of the team into a successful unit who are capable of challenging on all fronts (Fabregas 18/1 to be Champions League top scorer).

“In football, you know what people will say when you win, and you know what people will say when you lose,” he said. “You just have to keep focused on what you do, in training and in the game, give everything for the team and the rest is not up to you.

“We have a very good team, with lots of young players. We have to make it a great time by winning things.”

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Blues face anxious derby wait

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Birmingham midfielder Alexander Hleb is in a race against time to be fit for Sunday’s derby with Aston Villa (14/1 – Premier League Top-4 Finish) after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Blackpool.

The former Arsenal man was forced to leave the pitch 15 minutes from the end of the Premier League win and is already a concern for the weekend.

Hleb, on a season-long loan from Barcelona, seems almost certain to sit out Tuesday’s Carling Cup tie against Brentford but Blues (16/1 Top Six Finish 2010-11) will hope for better news later in the week.

Alex McLeish remains hopeful that the Belarus international will be ready for the Second-City derby, but was wishing he had replaced Hleb earlier.

The Scot said: “At half-time I said to Alex ‘give me 15 minutes of magic and we will get you off’. It went a bit longer than that and all of a sudden he had a little twist in his knee which we are concerned about.

“We have to wait to see how it is, but he is a brave guy. I just hope there is no serious damage.”

Another concern for McLeish is winger Jean Beausejour, who has missed the last two matches after injuring his knee ligament.

The summer signing was short of match fitness when he joined Blues and has yet to start in the Premier League.

Birmingham say they don’t want to take “any unnecessary risks” with Chile international, but may decide to give him a run out in midweek.

It will be a much-changed team that takes to the field for the League Cup encounter (Birmingham 3/10, Draw 18/5, Brentford 9/1 – Match Betting), with McLeish having one eye on the trip to Villa Park.

The manager admits that there will be “enforced changes” as Blues look to reach the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

McLeish added: “One or two will definitely need to rest and players have been playing with injections.

“That has been the case with three or four of them over the last few weeks, and that just can’t last forever because you will burn them out.”

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Portsmouth reach Gaydamak agreement

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Portsmouth look to have pulled back from the brink of extinction and could be heading out of administration (Portsmouth 7/1 to be promoted).

The Championship side’s former owner, Sacha Gaydamak, revealed he had reached an agreement with the club over a £2.2m sum owed to him.

Portsmouth had issued a statement on Friday saying they could be forced to fold.

But Gaydamak, the club’s key creditor, said on Saturday night: “A new agreement was reached on Saturday and as soon as I receive the papers I’ll sign them.

“I hope this draws to an end the uncertainty surrounding the club.”

Barclays Bank and another former owner, Balram Chainrai, are the Hampshire club’s other main secured creditors.

“Portsmouth, its fans, employees, players and the community that surrounds it deserve more than being subjected to rumour resulting from some parties using the press,” added Gaydamak.

The former owner will now receive £2.5m in instalments over five years.

Portsmouth (40/1 to win the Championship) have been in administration since February this year, and were £120m in debt at one point.

“Contrary to some reports, I fully intended to sign the deal on Friday and had it not been changed at the last minute I would have,” said Gaydamak.

“Everyone involved understood on Friday that further negotiations were now required.”

Former Hull chairman Paul Duffen now says he has put together a consortium that is interested in buying out the club.

Duffen was part of a group that bought the Tigers from Adam Pearson in June 2007.

“I have been monitoring the situation at Portsmouth for several months and trying to do a deal for some weeks,” Duffen told Express FM. “I have a fully funded bid ready to go.”

Duffen stepped down as executive chairman of Hull and Superstadium Management Company Ltd in October 2009.

Saturday proved an excellent day for Pompey as they continued their recent fine form with a 2-1 away win at Hull.

David Nugent gave Pompey the lead with a breakaway goal in first-half injury time and Greg Halford netted with a free-kick.

Nicky Barmby’s goal for the home side was mere consolation and Portsmouth have now taken 16 points from their last six games.

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Hodgson handed Kuyt boost

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Liverpool (7/1 Top 4 Finish) boss Roy Hodgson watched his side secure only their second Premier League win of the season against Blackburn and then was told striker Dirk Kuyt should return within four weeks, as he does not require surgery on his injured ankle.

The Reds have endured a difficult campaign and the pressure has mounted on Hodgson after they recently dropped into the Premier League’s relegation zone.

However, second half goals from Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Fernando Torres (14/1 Premiership Top Scorer) – his first since August – ensured Jamie Carragher’s unfortunate own goal sandwiched in between did not prevent them from dropping more points.

Liverpool remain in the Premier League’s drop zone on goal difference, but they will have been boosted to finally get a much-needed win under their belts.

A relieved Hodgson felt his players deserved the win on the balance of play in which they dominated the opening 70 minutes.

He said: “I thought the passing and movement was as good, if not better than it’s been but we were more incisive. We got in more crosses, got more bodies into the box for crosses, we had an enormous number of corner kicks and looked dangerous from those corner kicks, which is nice to see.”

The former Blackburn boss will also have been heartened by the news Dutch hitman Kuyt could be back in action for the Reds within a month.

It was feared that the 30-year-old would be missing for up to five months with an ankle injury he picked up on international duty in the Netherlands’ Euro 2012 qualifier against Sweden a fortnight ago. However, he is hoping to be back in time for the busy schedule of games in December.

Kuyt said: “I had a second scan and the doctor has now told me that they do not need to operate on my ankle. That is such a relief.

“The doctor says I could be back in the Liverpool team within one month.”

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Hodgson handed Kuyt boost

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Liverpool (7/1 Top 4 Finish) boss Roy Hodgson watched his side secure only their second Premier League win of the season against Blackburn and then was told striker Dirk Kuyt should return within four weeks, as he does not require surgery on his injured ankle.

The Reds have endured a difficult campaign and the pressure has mounted on Hodgson after they recently dropped into the Premier League’s relegation zone.

However, second half goals from Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Fernando Torres (14/1 Premiership Top Scorer) – his first since August – ensured Jamie Carragher’s unfortunate own goal sandwiched in between did not prevent them from dropping more points.

Liverpool remain in the Premier League’s drop zone on goal difference, but they will have been boosted to finally get a much-needed win under their belts.

A relieved Hodgson felt his players deserved the win on the balance of play in which they dominated the opening 70 minutes.

He said: “I thought the passing and movement was as good, if not better than it’s been but we were more incisive. We got in more crosses, got more bodies into the box for crosses, we had an enormous number of corner kicks and looked dangerous from those corner kicks, which is nice to see.”

The former Blackburn boss will also have been heartened by the news Dutch hitman Kuyt could be back in action for the Reds within a month.

It was feared that the 30-year-old would be missing for up to five months with an ankle injury he picked up on international duty in the Netherlands’ Euro 2012 qualifier against Sweden a fortnight ago. However, he is hoping to be back in time for the busy schedule of games in December.

Kuyt said: “I had a second scan and the doctor has now told me that they do not need to operate on my ankle. That is such a relief.

“The doctor says I could be back in the Liverpool team within one month.”

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