Premier League Preview: Manchester United - Newcastle

The only real injury problems Sir Alex Ferguson has are in midfield, with Anderson (hamstring) set to miss out until the trip to West Brom on Dec. 29.

Nani (hamstring) and Shinji Kagawa (knee) will most likely return against Steve Clarke's side at the Hawthorns as well, so Ferguson may well call on the likes of Paul Scholes and Danny Welbeck to fill in the gaps in midfield.

Wayne Rooney could be dropped after a disappointing display at Swansea in which he was substituted, with Chicharito or Welbeck ready to take his place up front.

Alan Pardew has a number of fitness issues to contend with in his squad - Hatem Ben Arfa (hamstring) and Dan Gosling (knee) have no set return dates, and are likely to miss the trip to Old Trafford.

Center back Steven Taylor (hamstring) is missing till January, while influential midfielder Yohan Cabaye (groin) is out until February. 

Ryan Taylor (knee) will not be playing until March, and Haris Vukcic (knee) is likely to be out for the rest of the season, so the January transfer window cannot come soon enough for the Newcastle boss.

Zac Lee Rigg: Anelka and Drogba cast overboard by Shanghai Shenhua

The type of bao (stuffed buns) traditional to Shanghai is xiaolongbao, steamed in bamboo baskets. Xiaolongbao have pockets of hot soup inside the dough, ready to squirt out and stain the shirts of unsuspecting and overeager noshers. 

A year into Shanghai Shenhua's dalliance with global significance, it appears that all major parties involved – Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba and Zhu Jun – bit off more than they could chew. 

Three of China's major news sites –  Sina, Sohu and 163.com – are all reporting that Anelka will forsake the $7 million left on his contract with Shenhua to escape Shanghai this January. In his year in the Chinese Super League, Anelka played 22 games, scored three goals and assisted six times. 

Less than a year after winning the Champions League by sheer force of will, Drogba has significant interest from Champions League-caliber teams, with Juventus linked the strongest. He scored eight goals in 11 CSL appearances. Shanghai only lost one game he played (though it drew six, more than half). 

In a recent shareholder meeting, Shenhua colorful chairman Zhu Jun threatened to jettison the club's three big earners – Anelka, Drogba and coach Sergio Batista – and move the club to another city. News trickling through from Chinese media tends to have a loose alliance with truth. The British tabloids rehashing the story hasn't helped make the situation any less murky. 

Zhu has a history of dramatic gestures. The 40-something once played as a striker in a friendly against Liverpool. He sees himself as a visionary and has megalomaniac tendencies. The current dispute, which will likely place the former Chelsea striker partnership back in Europe by Spring, sprouts from an alleged agreement made in 2007, when Zhu merged his Shanghai United with Shenhua. According to the Oriental Sports Daily, Zhu's equity in Shenhua was supposed to rise from 28.5 percent to over 70 percent within two years if he invested 150 million RMB ($24 million). In the six years since, he's pumped nearly four times that amount into the club. 

Ever the marketeer, Zhu has taken to increasingly public methods to express his displeasure that his slice hasn't swelled. (The five other partners are unnamed state-owned entities, according to theOriental Post.) In October, the entire team refused to train as a protest over unpaid wages. They showed up in casual clothes, jogged a lap and shoot some hoops. Zhu has used the futures of his stars to barter for the future of the club. 

The roster is disintegrating. Australian striker Joel Griffiths already joined Alessandro Del Piero at Sydney FC. Brazilian midfielder Moises will soon follow him out of the club. Yu Ta, captain of Shenhua for 11 years, will join Shanghai Shenxin. In November, Drogba petitioned FIFA for permission to leave the club before the transfer window opens in 2013. He has a two-and-a-half year contract, but will likely have a new club by the time the AFCON ends. 

Likely the only foreigner left on the roster come New Year will be Giovanni Moreno. Reportedly, Zhu blocked Moreno from playing one game as a form of "silent protest," so Zhu sees the Colombian playmaker is collateral as well, but the 26-year-old could still command a sizable transfer fee. 

Zhu wanted attention, and he got it, but he didn't secure much else for all the millions he invested. In 2012, Shenhua finished one point better off than it had a year prior. Shanghai fell some 20 points behind champion Guangzhou Evergrande, ending up in ninth. Guangzhou also invests heavily in its playing roster, but tends to prefer mid-20s signings from South America rather than blockbuster deals of global interest. 

China can probably lay claim to the most wasted soccer potential of any country in the world, and Shenhua has come to represent the blithe spending that won't help close the gap on the many smaller Asian countries outperforming it. 

Anelka and Drogba will likely return to Europe. The much-traveled Anelka said that he joined Shenhua "because of Shanghai," which he listed among London, Paris and Madrid as the best cosmopolitan cities in the world. Drogba wanted to improve African-Chinese relations. Those lures were probably real. Any future destinations will be far less exotic. The quality of bao will certainly drop, too. 

Shanghai offered a new frontier as well as ample remuneration, a combination no other destination can replicate. 

In a sense, Anelka and Drogba shanghaied themselves. Lured by the ethereal visions of grandeur and yuan, they now cling to flotsam, drifting back across the oceans in the wake of the Shenhua shipwreck.

Benteke's potential is 'frightening,' says Villa boss Lambert

Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has the potential to be "one of the best" according to manager Paul Lambert.

The former Genk man initially struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League after moving to Villa Park in a deadline-day switch back in August. The Belgium international has made great strides recently, though, and was instrumental in the club's 3-1 win over Liverpool, scoring twice and providing the assist for Villa's second goal.

Lambert has been quick to praise the impact Benteke has had on his improving side, and believes the 22-year-old can only get better.

"I don't want too much pressure on him, but he has the potential to be one of the best," Lambert told BBC West Midlands. "The potential for someone as young as that is frightening. He can be anything he wants."

Lambert believes Benteke's assist for Andreas Wiemann's goal was the most impressive aspect of his performance against Liverpool, and he was delighted with the caliber of the strikes netted by his side at Anfield.

"That was a world-class goal. The whole move, the backheel and Andi's finish was fantastic," Lambert said. "The goals were outstanding, worthy of winning any game, especially the second." 

Arsenal beats Reading 5-2 in Premier League

READING, England (AP) -- Santi Cazorla had a hat trick Monday to help Arsenal bounce back from its recent disappointments with a 5-2 win at last-place Reading in the Premier League.

Coming off an embarrassing loss on penalties at fourth-tier Bradford in the League Cup last week, Arsenal was back to its best for the first hour at the Madejski Stadium, attacking at will and taking a 4-0 lead when Cazorla netted his third in the 60th minute.

Reading rallied after scoring two goals in five minutes, but Cazorla settled any nerves by setting Theo Walcott up for the fifth in the 80th.

Lukas Podolski opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 14th, whileAdam Le Fondre and Jimmy Kebe scored for Reading.

The win lifts Arsenal to fifth place, two points behind Tottenham and Chelsea, and more importantly restored some confidence after last week's letdown at Bradford and a stretch of inconsistent league results.

''We showed people, hopefully, the real Arsenal,'' Walcott said.

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MADRID (AP) - Jorge Molina scored late to give Real Betis a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo, lifting his team into fifth place in the Spanish league.

The Betis forward beat defender Gustavo Cabral before scoring in the 81st minute. The hosts nearly tied it in injury time, but Betis goalkeeper Adrian San Miguel saved from Andres Tunez and Mario Bermejo hit the post a minute later.

Celta striker Iago Aspas had wasted chances earlier, shooting wide in the 40th after a solo run and again in the 67th.

The win puts Betis in fifth place with 28 points while Celta is 15th on 15 points.

In Monday's other match, Deportivo La Coruna drew 0-0 against Real Valladolid, a result that leaves Deportivo last in the standings. Valladolid is eighth with 22 points.

Messi reaches 90 goals, Barca opens 9-point lead

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Lionel Messi scored twice for his eighth straight start and reached 90 goals for the calendar year, leading Barcelona over second-place Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the Spanish league Sunday night and opening a 13-point lead over defending champion Real Madrid.

''This league is ours to lose,'' Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said.

After Real Madrid stumbled to a 2-2 tie against Espanol earlier in the evening, Atletico went ahead in the 31st minute of the late game when Diego Costa stripped Messi of the ball in midfield and fed Radamel Falcao, who chipped goalkeeper Victor Valdes for his 17th league goal this season.

Adriano tied the score with a curling left-footed shot that went in off the crossbar in the 36th, and Sergio Busquets put Barcelona ahead in the 45th after Atletico failed to clear a corner kick. Messi scored in the 57th minute off a pass from Alexis Sanchez and then stole the ball from Diego Godin to score in the 88th.

The three-time FIFA player of the year already had broken the record of 85 goals in a year for club and country, set by Gerd Mueller of Bayern Munich in 1972. The Argentine forward, who has one game left in 2012, has 34 goals for Barcelona already this season, including 25 in the league.

Barcelona (15-0-1), off to the best start in La Liga history, has a nine-point lead over Atletico (12-3-1).

''Messi is the best player in the world,'' said Atletico coach Diego Simeone. ''We brought out our best weapons, but Barcelona is playing at a different level. You can't do anything against their determination. This league is boring.''

Real Madrid (10-3-3) allowed substitute Juan Albin to score off of a poorly defended corner kick in the 88th minute, giving relegation-threatened threatened Espanyol a 2-2 tie.

''I have never been in a situation like this, dropping so many points and with a team so far from its objectives,'' Real coach Jose Mourinho said.'' It's new for me. The league looks impossible to me now, but we have to have the dignity to always try to win.''

Sergio Garcia put the visitors ahead in the 31st minute, but Cristiano Ronaldo tied the score in first-half injury time with his 14th league goal of the season and 23rd overall.

Ronaldo set up Fabio Coentrao's goal that gave Madrid a 2-1 lead three minutes into the second half.

Elsewhere, U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra returned from a torn muscle in his left leg, playing the entire match in Racing Santander's 1-0 home loss to Sabadell in Spain's second division.

The defender was injured in the Americans' 2-2 exhibition draw at Russia on Nov. 14, and Santander said a week later that it expected him to miss another six weeks.

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MILAN (AP) - AC Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino dedicated his goal in Sunday's 4-1 Italian league win over Pescara to the victims of the school shooting in Connecticut.

After the game, an emotional Nocerino said he wanted to ''take the chance to dedicate my goal to the American families of the children killed in the school, my thoughts are only with them.''

The Italian scored 35 seconds in. Nocerino, who has two young children, says he doesn't ''know how much the dedication will help the dead American children, but everything I did today was only for them.''

On the 113th anniversary of AC Milan's founding, the hosts (8-6-3) got own goals by Pescara in the 51st and 79th minutes and Stephan El Shaarawy scored the final goal in the 81st.

Defending champion Juventus defeated visiting Atalanta 3-0, with Mirko Vucinic scoring 80 seconds in and Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio adding goals. After Juventus built a three-goal lead, Thomas Manfredini was ejected in the 31st minute for his second yellow card.

Juventus (13-2-2) has a seven-point lead over second-place Inter Milan (11-5-1). Napoli (10-4-3) is another point back after a 3-2 loss at home to Bologna, which got goals from Panagiotis Kone in the 86th and Daniele Portanova in the 89th,

Sergio Pellissier scored in the 87th minute to give Chievo Verona a 1-0 win over visiting Roma and American midfielder Michael Bradley, who transferred from Chievo to Roma last summer.

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LONDON (AP)- Tottenham climbed back into top four of the Premier League, breaking Swansea's resistance when Jan Vertonghen scored in the 75th minute for a 1-0 win.

Vertonghen met Kyle Walker's free kick from the right wing with a low half-volley from just inside the area.

Tottenham (9-6-2), which took off American midfielder Clint Dempsey in the 70th minute, is even on points with third-place Chelsea (8-3-5), which has a game in hand.

West Bromwich Albion (8-6-3) missed a chance to move into the Champions League positions by tying 0-0 at home Against West Ham, extending the team's winless run to four games after its surprisingly strong start.

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BERLIN (AP) - Borussia Dortmund won 3-1 at relegation-threatened Hoffenheim on goals by Mario Goetze, Mario Goetze and Robert Lewandowski to end a three-game league winless streak.

Dortmund (8-3-6) entered the winter break in third place, 12 points behind Bayern Munich (13-1-3) and three back of Bayer Leverkusen (10-4-3).

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PARIS (AP) - Blaise Matuidi headed in Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cross late in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, helping Paris Saint-Germain move into the French league lead with a 1-0 win at home over Lyon.

PSG (10-3-5), seeking its first title since 1993-94, has 35 points and leads on goal difference over Lyon (10-3-5) and Marseille (11-5-2).

Lorient (8-4-6) won 2-0 at Saint-Etienne to move into fourth place and last-place Nancy (1-9-8) tied 1-1 at home with Bordeaux.

Van Persie is Manchester United's Messi, says O'Neill

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has compared the impact Robin van Persie has had at Manchester United to that of Lionel Messi atBarcelona.

The 24 million pound summer signing has netted 12 goals in 17 Premier League appearances for his new side, including opening the scoring in a 3-1 win over the Black Cats on Saturday.

Messi scored his 89th and 90th goals of the calendar year on Sunday night against Atletico Madrid to extend his own record, and O’Neill believes Van Persie gives United a similar lift to that of the Argentine at Camp Nou.

"[Van Persie] can get goals out of very little. It looks like nothing is happening, you have players in the area, but all of a sudden he has opened up a gap," O'Neill told reporters.

"Would Barcelona have the same effect if Lionel Messi didn't play? They are a very talented team, but without him you don't know, because Messi is their talisman.

"United have paid close on 30 million pounds for a player who had just one year left on his contract, so that might tell you how valuable they perceive him. But it's not just the perception, the reality is that he has been fantastic."

Rooney voted top Premier League player among American fans, according to Barclays survey

Wayne Ronney is the top player in the Barclays Premier League, according to the 3,500 fans in the United States who took part in the Barclays Global Fan Survey.

The survey, which encompassed 200 countries and six continents, asked fans from around the world to give insight on the Premier League, such as picking their favorite player, the top young prospect and how the game is followed.

Fans in the U.S. chose Rooney as the top player in the league, followed closely by two other Manchester United players, with Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs also in the top four. Steven Gerrard ended up tied with Giggs for the fourth spot in the fan poll, with both players taking in 7 percent of the vote. Rooney finished with 20 percent while his United strike partner, Van Persie, picked up 13 percent of the fan support.

“It’s great to be recognized by the fans in this survey," Rooney said. "I get messages from fans all over the world so I know how popular the Barclays Premier league is outside of the UK.” 

The survey also named Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the most exciting prospect over the next five years, with the winger picking up 15 percent of the vote.

The global survey highlights the popularity of the league and the use of social media as a means to keep up with the action despite being on the other side of the globe.

Fans in the U.S. now list Facebook and Twitter as the third and fourth most popular online platforms to follow the Premier League, with club sites and dedicated sports news sites still the top two.

Continuing the trend of love for Manchester United among Americans, Rio Ferdinand was voted as the top player to follow on Twitter, with Rooney just behind. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is listed as the figure fans most want to see on the social networking site in the future. 

Bradford reinstated to this season's FA Cup following successful appeal

The Football Association has confirmed that Bradford has been reinstated into the FA Cup following a successful appeal against an initial expulsion for fielding an ineligible player against Brentford in the second round. 

The decision means Bradford remains undefeated in every cup game it has played this season, following the dramatic penalty shootout victory over Arsenal in Tuesday night's Capital One Cup and progress to the northern area semifinals of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The FA confirmed on its website that the original ruling on December 7 to expel the club from the FA Cup because of an administrative error over the registration of on-loan Newcastle defender Curtis Good, was overturned due to a number of factors. 

The governing body accepted the "genuine error and recognized that corrective action was attempted as soon as the omission was discovered and that no attempt to deceive was made."

They also asserted that Bradford reported the error prior to the original game against Brentford as well as confirming that Good was eligible for the fixture aside from the administrative oversight. 

On this basis, Bradford has been reinstated but forced to pay a fine of £1000 for the mistake. The replay of the second round tie against Brentford will take place at Griffin Park on December 18. 

Fernandes: QPR's season has been a 'disaster'

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has described the club's Premier League campaign as a 'disaster'.

The club is currently rooted to the bottom of the league with just seven points, a further eight points a adrift of safety, with the west London outfit failing to win any of its first 16 league games, a new Premier League record. 

Fernandes chose to dispense with the services of Mark Hughes at the end of November, replacing him with former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who has since drawn each of his first three games in charge, leaving the 48-year-old to admit that the club's start to the season has been extremely poor.

"Holiday today in malaysia. Went early xmas shopping. But all I want is 3 points. Hehehehe," Fernandes tweeted from his official account. 

"Its been nothing short of a disaster. Its not where we are. But boy we put so much effort into this. Good honest effort.

"Keep your spirits up. Laughing smiling and being positive helps.

"Won’t leave any stone unturned to try [to] fix this. tough as it is. Hopefully santa gives us some early presents."

The Hoops face Martin Jol's Fulham side at Loftus Road on Saturday, hoping to end their long wait without a first league win of the campaign.

Fernandes: QPR's season has been a 'disaster'

QPR chairman Tony Fernandes has described the club's Premier League campaign as a 'disaster'.

The club is currently rooted to the bottom of the league with just seven points, a further eight points a adrift of safety, with the west London outfit failing to win any of its first 16 league games, a new Premier League record. 

Fernandes chose to dispense with the services of Mark Hughes at the end of November, replacing him with former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who has since drawn each of his first three games in charge, leaving the 48-year-old to admit that the club's start to the season has been extremely poor.

"Holiday today in malaysia. Went early xmas shopping. But all I want is 3 points. Hehehehe," Fernandes tweeted from his official account. 

"Its been nothing short of a disaster. Its not where we are. But boy we put so much effort into this. Good honest effort.

"Keep your spirits up. Laughing smiling and being positive helps.

"Won’t leave any stone unturned to try [to] fix this. tough as it is. Hopefully santa gives us some early presents."

The Hoops face Martin Jol's Fulham side at Loftus Road on Saturday, hoping to end their long wait without a first league win of the campaign.

Fulham 2-1 Newcastle: Rodallega header snaps seven-match winless stretch

Fulham managed to overcome a spirited display from Newcastle to clinch a 2-1 win in what was an enthralling, end-to-end encounter at Craven Cottage on Monday evening, snapping a seven-game winless stretch in the process.

The hosts took the lead in the first half courtesy through Steve Sidwell after some good work by Damien Duff saw him cut the ball back to the onrushing midfielder and his deflected strike from inside the box flew into the right-hand corner.

The Magpies equalized shortly after the break through a vicious drive from outside the box from Hatem Ben Arfa, with Mark Schwarzer wrong-footed in the home goal. Hugo Rodallega restored the hosts' one-goal advantage after nodding in from an excellent Duff free kick.

With the game played at a lively tempo and both sides showing a willingness to pour forward, it was the hosts who took the lead through Sidwell in the 18th minute, after he saw his effort deflected in off Williamson and with Krul sent the wrong way.

They should have added a second moments later when Dimitar Berbatov latched on to a sloppy pass from Vurnon Anita before racing through one-on-one, but Krul did well to stand up as long as he could and palm his effort away.

The Bulgarian went close again on the half hour mark after a superb run and cross by Sascha Riether down the right, which saw Berbatov's acrobatic effort cleared off the line by Davide Santon.

Riether then rose highest to nod Fabricio Coloccini's powerful header from a corner away off the goal-line and blocked a sweetly-struck crack on goal from Ba just before the halftime whistle, with Fulham going in at the break with a slender lead.

This prompted a response from Newcastle and they grabbed the equalizer in the 54th minute courtesy of a sensational strike from Ben Arfa from outside the area on the right which caught the bar on its way in, with Schwarzer caught embarrassingly off guard trying to anticipate the cross. Fulham regained the lead in the 63rd minute, though, after Rodallega buried a header at the near post, beating Coloccini in the air after Duff flung in a fabulous free kick from the right flank.

With the game opening up more and more and each side's defence looking ropey under any sort of pressure, Coloccini struck the bar with a magnificent curling effort from inside the box after a rampaging run forwards.

Nevertheless, despite both sides pushing for another goal and testing the opposition's goalkeeper with a number of efforts from range, Fulham was able to hold on to the lead and secure all three points in its first league win since late October.

Evra: Van Persie is perfect for Manchester United

Manchester United defender Patrice Evra has stated that he believes Robin van Persie is "perfect" for the club while maintaining that Wayne Rooney is also very important to the team.

The France international considers the club's new arrival to have slotted into the squad perfectly, and that his hunger and tenacity to work for the team has allowed him to blend in much more quickly than anyone would have anticipated.

The Dutchman already has 14 goals to his name in the current campaign, with a late free kick winning the Manchester derby on Sunday, and the left back believes the summer signing has what it takes to help the club win titles.

"Robin is perfect for Manchester United," Evra told talkSPORT. "When he scored the hat trick at Southampton he also missed a penalty. The first thing he said when he came back to the dressing room was that he was really sorry for missing the penalty. That shows the hunger, humility and personality he has to win trophies. He is not just scoring for himself. He really wants the team to win something."

The 31-year-old fullback also insisted that Rooney was still essential to the team. He dismissed talk that the forward has lost his ability to score this season, pointing towards his recent rich vein of form, in which he bagged himself doubles against both Reading and Manchester City.

"A lot of people criticized Wayne at the beginning of the season, asking why he didn't score so many goals," Evra added. "Last week he scored two goals. [Sunday] he got two again. He is a really important player for us."

Evra was also glad to see a former Red Devil left on the bench, asMario Balotelli was favored to Carlos Tevez, and he believes the striker's initial omission was a welcome relief.

"Tevez caused us problems when he came on," Evra said. "I told him before the game that I was really happy he was not going to start. It was a good sign for us. When he came on he put pressure on every defender and chased everywhere."