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Wigan’s mini-revival was brought a stuttering halt as Arsenal scored four without reply to run out convincing winners at the DW Stadium and move to within two points of the Premier League top four.

Following last week’s dramatic late win at Sunderland the Latics went in search of back-to-back victories for the first time season but were brought thumping back down to earth by the clinical Gunners. A promising start from Roberto Martinez’s side gave way to an Arsenal side who are still undergoing an renaissance of their own and they displayed their class with Mikel Arteta and Thomas Vermaelen scoring within a minute of each other to send the visitors into the break with a two goal advantage. Gervinho extended that lead in the second half before Robin Van Persie continued his prolific form in 2011 with his 37th goal in all competitions during the calendar year. The win saw Arsene Wenger’s men climb to fifth in the table behind Chelsea who beat Newcastle earlier in the day.

The home side will be disappointed that they were beaten in such a manner on their home turf as they slipped back into familiar territory with this defeat sending them back to the bottom. Still brimming with confidence following their first win in 10 games Wigan looked bright in the opening stages with Victor Moses and Connor Sammon causing the away side a few problems. Still they look impoverished in attack and were made to pay for some substandard finishing as the Gunners raced into a two goal lead before the hosts even had time to blink. Firstly, Arteta opened the scoring on 28 minutes lashing a long range a shot towards goal that passed through the hands of goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi. The Oman stopper really should have done better and he found himself picking the ball out of the net just a minute later after Vermaelen powered in a header via the post to give his side a nice cushion going into the second half.

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Wigan briefly threatened a comeback after the break with Moses flashing a shot across goal before Mohamed Diame went close with an effort. Arsenal started to dominate again and felt they should have had a penalty after Aaron Ramsey was fouled by Steve Gohouri in the penalty area. They didn’t have to wait long to increase their lead with Gervinho making it 3-0 just after the hour stabbing home from close range after Al Habsi had spilled Van Persie’s effort. There was still time for the Dutchman to grab a goal waiting till the 78th minute before scoring his 13th of the season sweeping the ball home after being set up by Theo Walcott to make it six wins in seven games since their defeat against Tottenham in October.

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has dismissed England’s chances of winning Euro 2012, stating that the core of the team is not as strong as other nations.

The 2-2 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica on Friday night assured that Fabio Capello’s men will take their place in Poland and Ukraine next year.

Despite an unbeaten qualifying campaign, the 85-times capped full-back is not convinced by The Three Lions’ chances.

“It’s as though we think one world class player might be able to propel us to a major trophy,” he stated in the Mail on Sunday.

“And now we are talking about Rooney possibly missing two games at Euro 2012 when what we should be talking about is the spine of a team that has no mobility and can’t keep the ball.

“When I look at it coldly, a team that has John Terry, Gary Cahill, Scott Parker, Gareth Barry, Darren Bent and Rooney in its central positions is nowhere near good enough to take on the major nations such as Spain.

“I’m not having a go at individuals; there are some very good players among those names. Collectively, Rooney aside, there is hardly any pace, very little invention and hardly any rotation of positions.

“The real issue is that the spine of the team is not good enough, as it stands, to take on Spain, Italy, France or Germany at Euro 2012,” he stated.

Neville picked the world champions out as a particular team of strength, that England may not be able to compete against, but will come head-to-head with on November 12th in an international friendly.

“Compare England with the spine of Spain: Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, David Villa and Fernando Llorente. That’s the issue Fabio Capello now has to resolve and why the Wembley friendly is so much more than a practice.

“Never has a friendly been more important.

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“It’s like a Cup final. Somehow, Capello has to do something that no England manager has done in 15 years, and that is make the England players believe that this next match could be the most important of their life,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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Theo Walcott is gunning for a berth in the Arsenal forward line next season after five years on the wing at the north London club.Walcott, 22, joined English Premier League side Arsenal from Southampton in January 2006.

He has made 114 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal, the majority of them coming in a wide role.

Now set to embark on his fifth full season in the Arsenal first team, the England international has his sights set on a centre-forward spot.

“I was signed as a striker – I want to play up front. I think I have done my trade out on the wing,” Walcott said.

“I think a lot of people forget I’m not a winger. I see myself as a striker, but if I get played up front it will take me a few games to get used to playing there again because I haven’t played there for about five years.”

“I think I have done a fairly good job on the wing for Arsenal. For this team I will play anywhere, but hopefully the fans will start seeing me up front a bit more.”

Walcott could be set to follow the path of former team-mate Thierry Henry, who made the transition from an unproductive wide role at Juventus to starring as a striker for Arsenal.

“I’ve been practicing my finishing after training,” Walcott said.

“This season, 15-20 is my target.”

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“I know I’m not going to play every single game. I always work at a high intensity so I’m not going to be able to do every single game.”

“The boss will know that as well. Hopefully I will be given a bit more of a free role as well. I’m intrigued to see what happens.”

Arsenal finished fourth in the English Premier League last season, losing in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham City and bowing out of the Champions League and FA Cup to Barcelona and Manchester United respectively.

Germany coach Joachim Loew was delighted with his side’s 2-1 win over Austria in Vienna on Friday to all but secure a place at Euro 2012.The win lifted the Germans seven points clear of Belgium on top of Group A, with Belgium having played one game more than the leaders.

While Loew acknowledged Germany were not at their best after a long Bundesliga season, the coach said they were happy to overcome a tough test and deal Austria’s qualification hopes a hammer blow.

“I am delighted that we won the match,” Loew said. “It’s good to come to Austria and get the three points even when we haven’t played so well.”

“Some players were clearly at the limit of their strengths – we made mistakes that could have been avoided.”

“Austria brought everything to this game. They were good and fought hard, and perceived this match as their last chance.”

“I am happy because it was fortunate, but also proud because the players wanted to win this game.”

Defender Philipp Lahm said the squad was pleased with the win, and insisted they were looking forward to securing full points against Azerbaijan on Tuesday before taking a well-earned break.

“We should talk again after Tuesday,” Lahm said. “We must win in Azerbaijan, but it is looking good for us.”

“We worked hard today and collected three points. Now after Tuesday we can reassess and then we’ll be able to go on holiday without any worries and I believe that qualification will then be all but assured.”

Stuttgart claimed a crucial win while Hannover heaped further misery on Bayern Munich on Saturday, cruising to a 3-1 win at AWD-Arena.Mohammed Abdellaoue opened the scoring for the hosts after 16 minutes and Konstantin Rausch doubled their lead six minutes after half-time, before Dutch ace Arjen Robben pulled a goal back for Bayern on 55 minutes.Sergio Pinto wrapped up the win for Hannover just after the hour mark, and things got worse for the reigning champions when Brazilian defender Breno was given his marching orders by referee Jochen Drees after 73 minutes.The loss is sure to increase the pressure on embattled Bayern boss Louis van Gaal, with German media rife with speculation over the Dutchman’s future before the game.Elsewhere on Saturday, Nuremberg climbed to sixth place after a 5-0 drubbing of St Pauli thanks to a virtuoso performance from striker Christian Eigler, who bagged four goals after Philipp Wollscheid opened the scoring.Stuttgart lifted themselves out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Schalke courtesy of a 15th-minute penalty from Zdravko Kuzmanovic, after Schalke defender Benedikt Hoewedes was sent off for a deliberate handball in the box.Bottom side Borussia Moenchengladbach also did their survival hopes no harm with a 2-0 home win over Hoffenheim with Filip Daems and Igor De Camargo doing the scoring, as Kaiserslautern slipped into the bottom three after drawing 0-0 with Eintracht Frankfurt.

After last weekend’s goal-fest the Premier League faces the freezing temperatures once more.

Chelsea will be desperate to end the slump which has see them knocked off of their perch on top of the Premier League, and a game against struggling Everton could provide the perfect platform. Arsenal, who still remain in the mix, welcome Fulham.

The bottom two, Wolves and West Ham, both experienced wins last weekend, but both face tricky away ties this time around at Blackburn and Sunderland respectively.

Gerard Houllier returns to Anfield on Monday night with his struggling Aston Villa side to play a Liverpool side whose performances have improved dramatically of late. Manchester City will be hoping they can close the gap on third place, but they will face a tough game against this season’s surprise package Bolton who are unbeaten in five.

Congratulations if your fantasy team profited from the flurry of goals last week, but if it didn’t it’s even more important that you get it right this time around.

Click on image below to see my fantasy picks for this round of 11Kicks Fantasy Football (4-4-2 formation)

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Holy Crap – its live fantasy football!

Become part of the West Brom v Newcastle match on Sunday and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!

Harry Redknapp revealed that he would be happy to see David Beckham at Tottenham, when the player’s contract expires at the LA Galaxy. Harry says he is still a quality Premier League player and would welcome him with open arms should he wish to move to North London.

Elsewhere in the papers the Everton board hits out at protest; Villas-Boas reveals he won’t be afraid to wield the axe, while Roberto Martinez believes that Manchester City are unplayable.

Harry open to Beckham return – Sky Sports

I could drop both Torres and Lampard, admits Villas-Boas – Guardian

Dalglish backs Carroll after criticism – Guardian

Pardew frustrated over failure to buy a striker – Guardian

Pearce wants to get his Phil for kid Lions – Sun

De Gea keeping the faith despite mistakes – Daily Telegraph

Everton board hit back at angry fans in row over sale of cash-strapped Toffees – Daily Mail

Martinez: Manchester City are ‘unplayable’ title contenders – Sun

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Arsenal scouts keeping tabs on Anderlecht’s midfield anchor Biglia – Daily Mail

QPR manager Warnock hits out at ‘pathetic’ internationals – Daily Mail

AC Milan join Liverpool in chase for Ajax teen sensation – Talksport

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Manchester United and England star Tom Cleverley may have not featured on the sports pages recently due to his ankle injury, but gossip pages are rife with his new relationship with The Only Way is Essex hotty Georgina Dorsett. The 22 year old is said to be in a relationship with the TOWIE star after a string of dates, and Dorsett has helped Cleverley lift his spirits after an injury ridden year.

Cleverley even went on an end of season holiday with mates to Marbella in Spain, the holiday destination made famous by The Only Way is Essex. We wonder if Cleverley had been following Dorsett’s lead with the ‘no carbs before marbs’ diet!

United fans will be looking forward to seeing their midfielder back in action come August, and no doubt new WAG Dorsett is eagerly waiting to check out her new boyfriend in action from the VIP seats at Old Trafford.

Georgina Dorsett may be famous for her role in the ITV reality show, but announced she would never date any of the guys on the show. Presumably Cleverley, five years her senior, is more her type. Our gallery looks at our 27 year old WAG of the week in action.

Click on Miss Dorsett to see her in all her glory

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Jimmy Bullard is unsure whether he should leave Hull City and sign for Celtic this summer after holding preliminary talks with the Glasgow giants.

The Tigers' club record signing still has three years of his KC Stadium contract remaining but is likely to leave the club following their relegation to the Championship.

Bullard has endured a succession of injuries during his time with Hull and admitted:"It's been good to get away from football and get my thoughts right.

"I'm contracted to a football club but we all know things can change quickly. I'm in the middle of talking to both clubs and I'm not going to say anything about the future until I get back home.

"I'm going to have to have a long, hard think about what my future holds. I'm contracted to Hull at the minute so I'm still a Hull player.

"But if somebody else tells me I'm going here or there, I'll have a look at those things. I don't want to be disrespectful to Hull. I'll speak to the chairman and then see. We had a bad year going down to the Championship and that hurt.

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Sporting Lisbon coughed up a 2-0 lead to draw with Olhanense, while Uniao de Leiria beat Nacional to move to fifth on the Liga Sagres table.

Heavyweights Sporting seemed to be cruising after much-travelled striker Helder Postiga scored his second goal on 62 minutes with a close-range finish.

But Brazilian defender Ismaily pulled a goal back and Sporting’s Daniel Carrico put the ball through his own net to have Olhanense level within four minutes.

Both sides had their chances to win the match, with Sporting’s veteran midfielder Maniche sending a long-range strike whistling over the cross bar as the game ticked into extra time.

But – save Olhanense striker Adilson’s red card for a high boot in the dying moments – there was no late drama as the game finished 2-2.

Sporting stay third on the table, while Olhanense move into a credible seventh.

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In the earlier game, a 43rd-minute goal from Indonesian forward Fabricio – his first for the club since his January move from PSMS Medan in his homeland – was enough to secure all three points for Uniao de Leiria against Nacional.

The win means Leiria leap over Nacional into fifth, with the latter sinking to seventh.