Despite big away wins for Wolves and Swansea, the weekend undoubtedly belonged to the Gunners, who ran out six goal winners over lowly Blackburn.

Arsenal’s seven goal mauling won them an impressive 7.67 points, easily the highest of the gameweek. As we’ve seen many times, it can be difficult for the top teams to prosper in home games against the bottom pack. Large league position differential often sees the title chasing sides accrue low point scores for comfortable wins, but things were different at the Emirates. Arsenal’s large win means that they’ve closed the gap on the four teams directly above them who all drew with eachother.

Had Liverpool been able to break down the stubborn Spurs back-line and win their game at Anfield then the Reds would have finally broken into the top four, a quartet which has remained the same for a fair few months. Despite struggling at home, Liverpool have managed six away wins this season – so even though Kenny Dalglish’s side have won two games fewer than Arsenal and Newcastle, the Reds are two points clear of the chasing pair. Liverpool scored well for their draw against a Spurs side who are sitting in third and won 3.88 points. However it is Chelsea who were the draw winners this week with their high-scoring game against Manchester United. Despite throwing away a three-nil lead, the draw still hands Chelsea 3.92 points.

Wolves got some much needed points after winning their bottom of the table clash over QPR. Wolves hadn’t won since gameweek 14 when they beat Sunderland 2-1, so their first away win since the start of the season was a welcome boost to the points tally. With Wigan, Blackburn and Bolton all failing to win, Wolves’ tally of 6.57 sees them move up a place and gain some ground on the teams above them. There is still quite a large gap between Wanderers in 18th and West Brom in 15th, but with the two sides meeting this weekend things could start getting tighter at the bottom once again.

It would be rude to ignore what is happening at Sunderland at the moment. Sunderland have gone from lowly strugglers to the team on top of the form table for the third gameweek running in the space of a few months. The Black Cats’ mid season charge means that there is finally a team threatening to break into the top seven, and the 7.36 gap between themselves and Newcastle could be greatly reduced in the next few weeks.

Manchester City have been quietly been going about their business again, and their 3-0 over Fulham opened up another gap between themselves and United. However, should City slip up and United get a decent win over fifth placed Liverpool this coming weekend then the tussle will commence once more.

• Highest Score: Arsenal 7.67 points
• Lowest Score: Blackburn 0.94 points
• Best draw score: Chelsea 3.92 points

Sunderland fans would have been fearing the worst when the Wearside club had only amassed 11 points from 13 games in the Premier League and were sitting at a dismal 16th after a disappointing 2-1 loss at home to bottom side Wigan. With these results Steve Bruce became Managerial causality number one.

With frustration growing now was time for radical changes. On the 3rd of December Sunderland unveiled their new manager, boyhood fan, Martin O’Neill. The ex-Aston Villa manager had a great reputation for building spirited teams at Leicester, Celtic and recently Aston Villa. Now, after 12 games at the helm, he has lifted his side to 8th on the table with 33 points and into the Fourth round of the F.A Cup. O’Neill’s record speaks for itself with 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. The most notable of these coming against league leaders Manchester City at the stadium of Light when summer signing Dong-Wong Ji scored in the dying seconds to give Sunderland a famous 1-0 win.

The Northern Irishman’s players are full of praise for the way their new manager has boosted their confidence. James McClean, the exciting young left winger bought from Derry City by Bruce, who had appeared to have been forgotten about until O’Neill threw him into the first team, describes the change. “The new manager’s lifted everyone around the club,” the £350,000 signing says. “He’s given us a new lease of life. He’s a remarkable man.”

The 59-year-old has also been hailed for his man-management skills. Suddenly Lee Cattermole, the less than innocent captain, resembles the midfielder Liverpool once sought after, rather than a bad-tackling, booking prone liability. “The gaffer has taken all the players to one side, put his arm round each of us and made us feel good about ourselves again,” says Cattermole. “He’s very intelligent and passionate”. Another player who has been pivotal under O’Neill is the gifted attacking midfielder, Stephane Sessegnon. The ex-PSG man is someone O’Neill and his assistant, Steve Walford, hone in training.

With this being said, most Sunderland supporters are wondering how O’Neill could have handled the Asamoah Gyan situation. A player last season who dazzled and danced his way into the hearts of the Sunderland faithful, before he abruptly left on a season-long loan spell at UAE club Al Ain at the start of this year’s campaign, when Bruce was in charge. With reports claiming he’s ruled out a return to the Black Cats, the Wearside club’s fans believe their new gaffer can convince Gyan otherwise.

Being big on loyalty, he hopes his players will repay him by raising their collective bar. A manager who says that his long-term goal is to see Sunderland performing in the manner of Barcelona re-assesses Bruce’s allegation that Wearside fans are unrealistically demanding, reinforcing his faith in the squad. “I don’t have a problem with expectations,” he says, firmly. “A club of Sunderland’s calibre should have ambition.”

In Martin O’Neill, Sunderland has a determined and efficient manager who’s brought a new spirit to the club, someone who’s ready to endear himself into the hearts of all Sunderland fans and most of all a manager who has strong ambitions for the future.

Two big FA Cup matches are on deck today. The 11am ET/4pm GMT kickoff between Arsenal and Aston Villa is the one that most will be interested in, but the 8.30am ET/1:30pm GMT match between Sunderland and Middlesbrough shouldn’t be overlooked either. Plus, we have the draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup, which is scheduled for approximately 10:40am ET today.

In 10 previous FA Cup meetings Arsenal have beaten Villa six times, lost three times with one draw, while Sunderland lead the Wear-Tees derby tally 59-45. This should be a straightforward win for Arsenal, but based on their confidence lately, it’s possibly that Villa could cause an upset. Arsenal will want to win especially knowing that Manchester United and City are out of the FA Cup. Winning some silverware this season would be vital for Arsene Wenger and the Gunners fans.

Having said that, Wenger will know that McLeish was the manager that helped Birmingham City beat Arsenal last season in the Carling Cup Final. This one should be an intriguing encounter.

In the early match, Middlesbrough, fifth in the Championship and hunting promotion under Tony Mowbray, have only won one of their last five. Meanwhile for Sunderland, Connor Wickham makes a rare start up front for the Black Cats.

Before, during and after today’s FA Cup matches, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.

I was originally skeptical of diving into Sunderland, A Club Transformed, Jonathan Wilson’s book about the 2006-2007 season for the Black Cats. As much as I respect Jonathan Wilson’s intellect and analysis of topics related to football, there were two red flags for me. Firstly, any narrative about a single season in football tends to be boring and read like a compilation of match reports. In recent years the proliferation of team centric blogs has made compiled match reports of matches easier to access and less unique. Secondly, the author, Mr. Wilson is a Mackem himself and while his other writing is immaculate, I was unsure about reading any Sunderland related content produced by him.

Despite these reservations, I decided to finally make my way through a copy of the book I had purchased before I had a Kindle (which is how I do most of my reading today.) As always, Wilson provided a fascinating read, even if the subject itself appeared to be bland.

The key characters in the book are, of course, Niall Quinn and Roy Keane. Both Quinn and Keane operate under the shadow of former Sunderland Manager Mick McCarthy who had his high profile disagreements when he led the Republic of Ireland side with Keane.

Niall Quinn, a Sunderland playing legend, served as caretaker manager and chairman following a takeover of the relegated club in 2006. After a rocky start to the season, Quinn hired Roy Keane as manager, creating a remarkable change in attitude and results. The book chronicles Keane’s transformation of Sunderland into a slick passing side that had stopped the bad giveaways and poor defending that were trademarks of McCarthy’s Black Cats. The book also delves deeply into Keane’s personal transformation from fiery Manchester United skipper to responsible and respectable Sunderland manager.

Keane’s willingness to trim a bloated squad full of players that had featured under McCarthy and replace them with experienced professionals like Carlos Edwards and Dwight Yorke or promising youngsters such as Ross Wallace is discussed at length.

Perhaps the most impressive and interesting aspect of the book is not the narrative of the 2006-07 season itself, but how Wilson interweaves excellent historical information about Wearside such as references to the Venerable Bede or George Washington’s family as well as relevant and important historical stories about the club and its supporters.

Sunderland was promoted back to the Premier League following the 2006-2007 season, and they have remained in the top flight since. Wilson’s book is must for any fan of English football as it gives the reader important historical context about one of the country’s best supported clubs in addition to dissecting the remarkable turnaround that saw Sunderland win the Coca-Cola Championship after spending the first month of the season at the foot of the table.

Sunderland, A Club Transformed is available on Amazon and at other fine booksellers.

The APL is back from a short break and is just in time to report another good weekend for the little guys as gameweek 21 saw big scores for both Norwich and Blackburn.

It isn’t often that we see Blackburn among the week’s biggest winners, but their 3-1 win over Fulham earned them a score of 6.51, a higher score than both Manchester clubs. However, Rovers’ fourth win of the season was not enough to see them climb out of the bottom three as QPR’s 1.87 for losing at Newcastle was just enough for them to keep their heads above water.

So while QPR toil, life is looking rosy for Norwich and Swansea with both sides sitting pretty in the top half of the table. Norwich were the week’s big winners as their fourth away win of the season gave them a 6.73 point boost. The win means that the Canaries have closed the gap between themselves and Stoke, who are one place above them, to 1.60 points. Swansea took their biggest scalp of the season after beating Arsenal at the Liberty Stadium. The Gunners missed the chance to capitalize on Spurs and Liverpool slipping up and are now looking over their shoulder at Newcastle in seventh. Swansea’s good Christmas period, and the 6.30 total they tallied for beating Arsenal, is reflected in their impressive position of fifth in the APL form table, 0.19 more than sixth placed Norwich.

Despite slipping to defeat at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland sit top of the form table. The Black Cats have amassed 26.50 points in their last five games, a whole point more than second placed Manchester City.

With four in the last five, Wolves are becoming the league’s draw specialists and, despite no wins in the last five, are currently 15^th in the form table. Three of their four draws have come against teams significantly higher in the league than themselves and their one defeat was a narrow loss at the hands of Chelsea. So because of the high standard of their opponents they have been picked up 17.21 points in the last five games, including a very high 4.18 points for their draw at White Hart Lane.

• Highest Score: Norwich 6.73 points
• Lowest Score: Fulham 1.18 points
• Best Draw Score: Wolves 4.18 points

For more information and score updates follow the APL on Twitter @APLupdates

On day three of cleaning out my garage, I found a pleasant surprise in a 1962 collection of 25 cards entitled “Football Clubs and Badges” from a company named Lamberts Of Norwich.

The cards were included in packets of tea from Lamberts. Each card features an English club with the club’s name, football kit, crest and kit colors, which are all beautifully designed. During the 1961-62 season, there were 22 clubs in the top flight. In the 61-62 season, Ipswich won the title, while Everton won it the season after.

The quality of the cards is exceptional. Click on the above image to get a larger view of the front of the cards to see the detail. It’s interesting to note how plain the Manchester United crest looks, how intricate the one is for Ipswich, the odd character emblazoned on the Nottingham Forest card (a forester, which is one of Nottingham Forest’s many nicknames), and the sad looking cockerel of Tottenham.

You’ll notice that there’s no Liverpool. The Reds were in the second division in the 61-62 season. And how about the surprise inclusion of Colchester United, who were in the Fourth Division at the time. Each of the cards contains a short history of the club, and the back of Colchester’s card mentions how their best season was in 1956-57 when they finished third. I can only presume that Colchester was included in the set of 25 cards because of its proximity to Norwich.

Eagle-eyed readers may notice that there are only 24 cards featured. The one that’s missing, which I do have, is the one for Luton Town.

See any other interesting observations about the cards? Share them in the comments section below.

In a season that has been dominated by headlines pertaining mostly to the Big Four (along with Manchester City and Tottenham), one region of England’s rich footballing world that has often been overlooked is the northeast.

This season brought a lot of excitement to Tyneside and Wearside. The Toon faithful have to be enjoying life after just two seasons ago they regained promotion from the then Coca-Cola Championship league. Now the Magpies sit comfortably in seventh, just behind Liverpool, after an incredible performance against Manchester United where Demba Ba’s magnificent winner sparked a 3-0 upset.

On Wearside, spirits are just as high. Sunderland is a team on the rise. Despite Steve Bruce’s best efforts he was unable to unlock Sunderland’s potential. With the late and unexpected departure of Asamoah Gyan accompanied with Danny Welbeck’s return to Manchester United after last season’s loan spell the Black Cats found it very difficult to be offensively potent under Bruce. Enter Martin O’Neill, The former Aston Villa boss who does seem to have found the keys to success at Sunderland.

O’Neill owes a lot of credit to the likes of Stephane Sessegnon and David Vaughan who have recently been in tremendous form. Vaughan and Sessegnon have provided fans with a lot to cheer about, both have been creative in the final third and both have been the creators of some fantastic recent goals. Along with young James McClean and Conor Wickham there is a bright future for the Stadium of Light.

However, this season has been even more memorable for fans on the other side of the Tyne-Wear derby. Alan Pardew has been magnificent since replacing Chris Hughton over a year ago. Bringing in Demba Ba from relegated West Ham was a necessary move after seeing Andy Carroll leave to replace Fernando Torres in a flurry of deadline day moves last January. Along with the arrival of Yohan Cabaye, from French champions Lille, and the return of Hatem Ben-Arfa, who suffered a devastating leg-break courtesy of Nigel De Jong early last season, Pardew should have a lot of faith in his squad. Fabricio Colocini and Danny Simpson have been studs in the back and Tim Krul has been very impressive between the posts. This squad held onto the second longest unbeaten streak in the league and sat as high as third early in the season. Now they are comfortably perched in seventh and shouldn’t soon be moving down.

In modern football the mid-table teams are too often overlooked. In northeast England, though, these clubs mean a great deal to their fans. The Tyne-Wear rivalry pre-dates the days of Football and can be traced back to political rows caused in the English Civil War. In 1883 the rivalry hit the pitch for the first time and in 1888 Sunderland won the first competitive fixture of the derby 2-0 in an F.A. Cup match. Since then Newcastle have had the better record with 53 wins, 45 losses, and 45 draws. However, the past is in the past and the future of this fixture is a very enticing prospect. Although it is still a couple of months away (March 3) this is a fixture that’s been circled on many calendars for quite a while.

The first meeting of the two sides this season saw Newcastle grab a 1-0 second half winner courtesy of a brilliant Ryan Taylor free-kick in the 62nd minute. However, the next fixture should be even more thrilling. The first meeting took place on August 20th, meaning that the likes of Gyan, Anton Ferdinand and Joey Barton were all involved. All three have since moved on, but both teams seem to be stronger now than they were then. Not to mention that now that January is upon us both O’Neill and Pardew will be looking to strengthen their squads even more.

In the weeks leading up to this derby it is hard to imagine that Newcastle will slip below seventh with QPR, Fulham, Blackburn, Aston Villa, Tottenham, and Wolves all on the fixture list. With the exception of Tottenham these are all matches that the Magpies should expect to get points out of. However the recent performance against United should have even Harry Redknapp on his toes when the Toon faithful venture south to WHL.

Sunderland, on the other hand, may find it difficult to maintain their recent run of form and their top-half position in the table. Chelsea, Arsenal, and United are all on the schedule along with Swansea City, Norwich, and Stoke City. These are six difficult opponents, the three big names should provide obvious problems for Sunderland, but Swans, Norwich, and Stoke can be equally as difficult to play against in their own ways. Paul Lambert’s Canaries are proving they have what it takes to stay up, Brendan Rodgers’ Swans have provided us with some beautiful football all season, and Tony Pulis’ Potters are a gritty team that can cause anyone problems. But with the run of form that O’Neill has this squad in the dressing room morale should be through the roof. It also helps to know that you are one of only two teams to beat league-leaders Manchester City this season.

So with the transfer window open and both northeast England top division sides giving their fans plenty to smile about this game should already be in the back of your minds. O’Neill and Pardew have both brought joy to clubs with very rich histories and extremely passionate fans. Depending on the moves they make in January the football should only bring more joy to Wearside and Tyneside. It is definitely too early to predict a winner but after a 5-1 thrashing on Halloween of 2010, a 1-1 draw in return fixture (courtesy of some late Gyan heroics), and the 1-0 loss in August Sunderland may finally be able to swing the tide back to Wearside.

What a difference a week makes. Since Christmas Day, the teams at the bottom and in the middle of the Premier League have performed spectacularly, picking up much-needed points. Consider that Blackburn beat Manchester United at Old Trafford and tied Liverpool at Anfield. West Brom grabbed a draw against Manchester City. Aston Villa beat Chelsea, Swansea held Tottenham to one point, while Fulham drew Chelsea, Wolves tied Arsenal and, last but not least, Sunderland beat Manchester City.

It’s been a fabulous week for “The Other 14″ in the Premier League. The best of the season for the struggling teams.

Despite strong performances from the mid- and lower-table Premier League sides, you can expect the pundits and columnists to start writing about how Manchester United and Chelsea are falling apart instead of giving credit to the teams that beat them. This is a time to give the other Premier League clubs some well-deserved respect. These weren’t lucky wins. Many of the matches featured end-to-end action with the underdog, especially, fighting as hard as they could to salvage a point or more against the Goliaths of the Premier League.

Some of the players who deserve individual praise include:

• Lee Cattermole of Sunderland, who — despite his off-the-pitch issues of smashing up cars in Newcastle — was the key to the midfield for the Black Cats on Sunday, acting as both creator and destroyer in midfield,
• Wigan’s Ben Watson who ran on the pitch as a substitute and smashed home an equalizing penalty with his first touch of the ball against Stoke City,
• Swansea City’s Ashley Williams put in a valiant performance as center-half against Tottenham Hotspur, managing to keep the Lilywhites to just the one goal. The Welsh defender also was dangerous on the attack when he made his runs into Tottenham first third of the pitch, and
• Yakubu of Blackburn was again in fine form as they smashed in two of the three goals to help Rovers beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Who are some of the players you feel should be singled out for superb performances during the past week? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Here is what the Premier League clubs are wishing for in 2012:

Arsenal: Gunner fans are wishing that scoring machine Robin van Persie continues his torrid streak.

Aston Villa: That Alex McLeish has a method to his “managerial tactic” madness.

Blackburn: Steve Kean is renting and not buying.

Bolton: Club officials are wishing the F.A. will bring in two more clubs into the Premier League in hopes that Bolton won’t be relegated.

Chelsea: Andre Villas-Boas decides on the correct starting eleven for his club so that they can make another run at the title.

Everton: That Landon Donovan can breathe some fresh air into the Toffees offensive attack.

Fulham: Hopefully Martin Jol can unite his squad to make another run at a Europa spot next season.

Liverpool: Luis Suarez starts to be known for his play and not for his antics.

Manchester City: That the club continues their blistering pace.

Manchester United: Alex Ferguson uses his genius to figure out the midfield problems.

Newcastle: Demba Ba decides to stay with the club through the January transfer window.

Norwich City: That the club can continue their steady pace and enjoy a second season in the first division.

QPR: The Rangers magically figure out how to score more goals at Loftus Road.

Stoke City: To make sure that an away trip to Britannia Stadium remains a difficult test for opposing clubs.

Sunderland:  That the likes of Sebastian Larsson and Nicklas Bendtner give the Black Cats an offensive identity.

Swansea City: The Super Swans wish that Michel Vorm continues his ridiculous form at goalie.

Tottenham: That the Spurs finish in the top four and qualify for next year’s Champions League.

West Brom: The Baggies wish that Shane Long and Chris Brunt can continue to inspire their teammates in hopes of finishing in the top half of the table.

Wigan: That Victor Moses keeps playing with flair and goalie Ali Al Habsi remains one of the best keepers in the league.

Wolverhampton: Wolves wish that Bolton, Blackburn, and Wigan remain below them in the Premier League table.

Note: Readers can follow Matt on Twitter @thehackreport

At the start of this season former Sunderland manager Steve Bruce declared his intention to finish above local rivals Newcastle at the end of the season and the two north east sides have had mixed fortunes in the Premier League so far this season.

Newcastle began the season with a goalless draw at St James Park and conceded just 4 goals in the next 6 matches. Manager Alan Pardew has aimed for consistency in defence and kept a consistent backline with Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul between the sticks and a back four of Simpson, Steven Taylor, Coloccini and Ryan Taylor.

Last month Newcastle found themselves in the Champions League places after an opening run of 7 wins out of 11 games and the goals of Demba Ba have been crucial to the Toon Army’s cause this season.

There are signs however, that the Magpies are beginning to lose some of their early season flight. Newcastle has not won now in 7 Premier League games, losing 4 of their last 6 games and the injury to Steven Taylor in particular is a huge blow and the English defender looks set to miss most of the season after building a promising centre back partnership with Fabricio Coloccini. Senegalese striker Demba Ba who has 13 of Newcastle’s 23 goals this season will be away with Senegal for the 2012 African Cup of Nations as will midfielder Cheik Tiote who will be on duty for the Ivory Coast. The immediate fixtures are not ideal either with Liverpool and Manchester United the next two opponents for the Geordies after the Boxing Day trip to the Reebok Stadium.

Over at the Stadium of Light Steve Bruce failed to carry out his goal this season, but there seems to be renewed optimism with manager Martin O’Neill now at the helm for the Black Cats.

When the former Aston Villa manager took charge, Sunderland were languishing in 16th position, some 15 points off rivals Newcastle. Fast forward just a few weeks and Sunderland under O’Neill have already picked up 2 wins out of 3 games and have immediately closed the gap down to 10 points.

With Asamoah Gyan on loan in the United Arab Emirates, Sunderland will not have the same concerns as Newcastle in regards to their players at this year’s African Cup of Nations. Losing Bent and Gyan in recent seasons has left Sunderland substantially short in attack and goals have been the major concern this season.

O’Neill immediately targeted his club’s striking options and got the Black Cats firing immediately with 5 goals scored in his 3 games in charge.

The Northern Irish manager is astute in the transfer market and will have been preparing a number of possible transfer targets, whilst he has been out of the game and January’s transfer window provides the ideal opportunity in which to address his concerns.

With the New Year approaching Sunderland fans will be full of optimism and hope in catching their local rivals come the end of the season.

Jonathan Day writes for Sportingly Better a football betting blog that provides free football tips, predictions and Premier League fantasy football picks.