Let’s gear up for tomorrows FA Cup matches with a video. Take a look at the highlights from last years final.

Here’s the links:

• Aston Villa shaken up [Caught Offside]
• Buy Beckham’s 2008 Porsche [Ebay]
• Manchester City played for the draw [A Different League]
• Obi Mikel out until February [Sky]
• Dzeko interview [M.C.F.C.]
• Soccer Songs [53 Songs]
• Anelka isn’t so bad [Sports Illustrated]
• Wanker of the year contest [Arsenal Review USA]

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and let me know if you’d like to suggest an article, video or photo for inclusion on the Premier League Links Of The Day.

Will Manchester City top the table for a moment (however briefly)?

Will Chelsea be knocked out of the top 4 for a day (at least)?

Will Blackpool actually play a match?

Join me for a live blog for the seven matches today, which include:

Manchester City v Aston Villa
Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle Utd
Stoke City v Fulham
Sunderland v Blackpool
West Brom v Blackburn Rovers (all 10 AM Eastern Time USA)
West Ham Utd v Everton (12:30 PM)
Birmingham City v Manchester Utd (3:00 PM ET on ESPN2)

With the transfer window opening immanently speculation is already mounting on who will be on the move in January. As teams look to give their squads that bit extra in the push for trophies, promotion or the battle against relegation, January is always a busy time. Check out the players below who could have a new home post Christmas.

Carlos Tevez
With Carlos Teves making his desire to leave Manchester City public knowledge a host of teams will be trying to prize the Argentine international away from Eastlands in January. While very few will be able to afford the player Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid will certainly be keeping close tabs on the situation. Manchester City will of course be hoping for a Wayne Rooney style u-turn.

Robbie Keane and David Bentley
While Spurs have won many plaudits this season for their free flowing attacking football two men that have found themselves very much frozen out of the side are Robbie Keane and David Bentley. Both proven at this level a number of clubs will be interested in securing their signatures. Keane has been linked with a return to Wolves while Bentley could be on his way back to Blackburn.

Andy Carroll
One of the players of the season so far is without doubt Andy Carroll. While the tall forward has had his fair share of problems of the field on it he continues to deliver. A local lad, Newcastle will be hoping that they can keep their number 9 but Tottenham are reported to be very keen on landing the England forward. Peter Crouch could be used as bait along with cash to tempt the Magpies into selling.

Michael Owen
An injury disrupted start to the season has once again limited the number of games Michael Owen has played. With Rooney, Berbatov and Hernandez all in front of him in the pecking order when he returns to fitness his opportunities will still be limited. Now in the latter in stages of his career Owen may now decide that he needs to play as many games as possible before hanging up his boots. Goodison Park is a possible destination.

Scott Parker
While the thought of Scott Parker leaving Upton Park is one that doesn’t bare thinking about for West Ham fans it could well happen. With the Hammers sitting bottom of the table the club may feel it makes more sense to cash in on the midfielder now rather then lose him for a cut price fee if they are relegated. There slim survival hopes will go out the door with Parker if he does leave.

Who else do you think could be on the move in the transfer window?

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will meet with his rebel striker Carlos Tevez tomorrow, in a bid to save the Argentine’s career at the club. The two haven’t spoken since Tevez’s representatives informed the City hierarchy that the forward wanted to leave, but Mancini is still hopeful of persuading him to stay.

Speaking ahead of City’s 1-1 Europa League draw with Juventus, Mancini said: “He is our player and it’s my opinion that Carlos will stay with us. But I want to speak with him. He can continue to play for us.

“I’m disappointed because I think that we are in a good moment and we have a good position in the table. Our focus must be on this, but before that, I said I want to speak with him. I’m happy for the team and other things, but I want to speak with Carlos and I repeat, Carlos has three years on his contract and, yes, I want him to stay.”

While Mancini is confident of talking Tevez round, it will be a massive shock to see Tevez willingly remain at the club. I use the word willingly because in reality if City don’t want to sell, they are the only club in the world that could afford to allow a player of Tevez’s stature to rot in the reserves.

City’s financial prowess has also meant that Tevez’s valuation has been greatly inflated and there are very few clubs in the world that could afford the sort of money that City are reported to be looking for, should Tevez not be persuaded to stay.

This demonstrates just how hard it will be for Tevez to manufacture a move away from City. There is often a talk about player power in football, but this transfer saga will emphasise just how powerful City have become.

As we saw with Craig Bellamy, City have the power to pick and chose where their players go. So while Tevez might be desperate for a move away from Eastlands, he might just have to be prepared to wait a very long time for it.

Sheikh Mansour’s takeover at the club has changed the footballing transfer market. While it created astronomically big wages for the likes of Tevez, it also created a new level of control over players, which has brought a whole new world of problems.

Well, I have to admit I’m perplexed by some of the performances of the Premierships traditional powerhouses this season. A month ago, most people would have been hard pressed to think anyone could trouble Chelsea for the title, now 6 points separate the top 6 sides. Suddenly, a real title race has begun at last as Chelsea suddenly developed a soft centre and ran bang out of luck. Manchester United continue to do what no-one else has ever been able to match, a continual accumulation of points, despite playing below par.

Arsenal, a week after an impressive win at Everton, decided to reverse roles with Tottenham on Saturday and capitulate when victory seemed assured. Manchester City, suddenly discovered the benefits of pushing men forward. Bolton have gatecrashed the top table with a series of powerful, football displays. It is, for once, an exciting season for more than the usual set of fans.

The old adage in England is the title is usually won by what sides do over the Easter holiday period. Yet, the Premiership fixture list has decided to send a series of mouth watering and crucial clashes before the end of 2010. Chelsea have to play Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Bolton, the toughest Christmas run in in the top 6. United have Arsenal and a raft of games that could see them stretch away. Arsenal have the top two as well as tough games against Stoke and Aston Villa.

The pretenders, Tottenham and Manchester City, have games that they have to win to prove their title challenging credentials and Bolton have City and Chelsea and 3 games they could easily win as much as lose. Looking at the run in to the New Year, Chelsea will be cursing their luck that the fixture computer has decided to play this particularly nasty hand on them at this stage of the season. The performance against Birmingham had a lot of positives for the Blues, but they came away empty handed after meeting a goal keeper who played like a man possessed, Ben Foster.

The additional soap opera of the Ray Wilkins legal challenge has now added further mystery stirred today by Carlo Ancelotti’s comments and the loss of Terry, Lampard and Essien. Drogba and Alex are both struggling with illness and injury and the squad suddenly seems very light. It is an unusual situation for Chelsea to seem so threadbare on a squad level.

Bolton meanwhile, continue to improve back towards the level the showed under Sam Allardyce but with a footballing panache and verve. Continually labelled as a physical side, Wanderers have now shown that there was a footballing side that a mundane manager like Gary Megson simply couldn’t find due to his tactical ineptitude. Bringing Owen Coyle to the club is now beginning to look like Phil Gartsides best decision as Bolton Chairman. Keeping Elmander may be the next best thing he does.

Yet, as I enter my 19th Premiership season as a fan, the nagging feeling that the old order will return to the top 3 places continues to niggle away at me. Despite the euphoria that having a title race so close at this stage can offer the fans of clubs outside of the usual title suspects, history continues to point to the challengers falling away. It would be lovely it was to be a 6 or 7 horse race, but by New Years Eve, the league table will point to where the title may end up come May.

Ahead of City’s trip to Fulham, the pressure was very much on Roberto Mancini. After a disappointing run of form which had seen the blues draw their last two games 0-0. A bad result in London could have spelled the end for Roberto Mancini, but what followed was their best performance of the season.

In many ways it was a matter of time before City finally produced a display that would strike fear in to their Premier League rivals, and you have to feel that Mancini was extra motivated to do it against Fulham, managed by the man he replaced last December.

Mancini has been blasted by the media of late with many saying he has done no better than Mark Hughes, his predecessor at Eastlands. Much of this criticism has been fair, because City haven’t showed that they have developed in the time since Hughes’ departure.

But today everything clicked for Mancini. Yes they were against a Fulham side who produced a desperately below par performance, but generally City were fantastic and didn’t give the hosts any opportunity to grasp the game.

Yaya Toure starred in a midfield role which saw him utilised all over the pitch, while Carlos Tevez was at his influential best. Mancini’s side have now set a standard that really needs to be maintained over the coming months.

If City can consistently match today’s performance, they have a fantastic chance of achieving great things this season, but so often this season City have been caught out, just when we think they are going to make a charge for glory. However Mancini does seem to be fairly satisfied with his sides start to the season, even though they should be at least six points better off.

In many ways I feel Mancini seems to find the expectations of the City fans very difficult to manage, and constantly looks to play down their title hopes. In reality he has to be aware that a title challenge is the only thing that can prolong his City tenure.

Results and performances like today’s will give him a title challenge, there is no doubt about that, but whether City can now find consistency is another question.

Barely have you had chance to draw breath and it’s time to do it all again. There’s a full midweek programme of Premier League fixtures, game week 12 is upon us already, and it’s going to be tricky selection wise as several managers may opt to shuffle their packs.

Tie of the week has to be the Manchester derby. The Blue half of Manchester have Carlos Tevez back and the Reds back line can expect a torrid time at the hands of the annoyingly persistent Argentinean. United may still be picking up points but they are struggling and will be looking for big performances from the experienced Scholes and Fletcher. It would also be a good time for Hernandez and Berbatov to rediscover their earlier form.

Chelsea and Tottenham will be looking to bounce back from disappointing weekend results. Spurs play host to Sunderland on Tuesday, and the form is with Tottenham, the Black Cats have only won once at the Lane in 26 years. Van Der Vaart is struggling with a hamstring injury, but I think Harry will risk him. Three points here are vital for Spurs’ push for the top four, Redknapp will go all out for victory on Tuesday night so it’s time to give your Tottenham forwards a run out.

I fear Fulham could pay for Liverpool’s victory on Sunday. Chelsea need to bounce back with a win and will simply overpower Fulham at the bridge. Drogba will be all guns blazing after warming the bench at Anfield for a long 45 minutes. This could be the week to rest any Fulham defenders you have in your squad.

Aston Villa’s treatment room is full of strikers right now, which equals opportunity for one young striker and if you feel like taking a gamble then Nathan Delfouneso, who could have had a hat-trick on Saturday, will be looking to make amends at home to Blackpool on Wednesday. It could also be a good time to give two more of Villa’s youngsters a chance, midfielders Marc Albrighton and Barry Bannan are turning heads for all the right reasons and both are available for under 5 million. There are always goals where Blackpool are concerned, honours may well end up even in this one but it will be entertaining.

There are two ties this week which, in all honesty, could go either way. Wolves host Arsenal and Newcastle host Blackburn. Wolves were outstanding in defeat at Old Trafford and have been impressive all season. Arsenal, being Arsenal could stroll this one or make a complete three course meal out of it. I’m going to go for the latter. Robin Van Persie made an appearance on Sunday and I’m backing him to be the difference in what will be a tight encounter.

It would be no surprise if Newcastle followed up a win at the emirates with a defeat at home to Blackburn. Nothing would give big Sam more pleasure than a victory against his former club. Newcastle should win, which is why I’m going to back Blackburn and Jason Roberts who found his shooting boots, well shin pads, against Wigan.

West Ham vs West Brom is another fixture that could throw up a few goals. Scott Parker at 5.4 million and Frederic Piquionne available for 5.1 million are well worth considering. The Hammers won’t stay bottom of the table for long and this home tie with the Albion could be the turning point of their season.

I’ve gone striker crazy in my suggestions this week, but I sense goals in game week 12 and goals mean points. Hopefully I’ve given you plenty to think about as you tinker with your attack.

If you feel like joining in the fun then join the EPL League by visiting: http://fantasy.premierleague.com/  the code you need to join is 13413-5300

Manchester City have now lost three games on the bounce after Thursday’s Europa League match v Lech Poznan away. Losses to Arsenal at home and Wolves at Molineux in the Premier League have seen a few eyebrows raised in the direction of boss Roberto Mancini who seems to be a bit tactically naive as of late.

Injuries have plagued some of Mancini’s first choice squad in the form of Carlos Tevez, Alexsandar Kolarov and Mario Balotelli, but the strength in depth of City’s squad because of their long reaching financial arm should be able to compete with the likes of Wolves. City’s inefficiencies as of late shouldn’t be blamed on the players, but Mancini, who needs to begin questioning himself and how he sets up City.

Already having secured the dreaded vote of confidence from Garry Cook concerning his future with the club, Mancini has been involved in a number of gaffs as City pursue Champions League football for next season. In City’s home loss to Arsenal in October, Mancini elected to start 19 year old Dedryck Boyata instead of Joleon Lescott in defense. Although Boyata is no mug and can hold his own as a defender, his youth and inexperience proved to be City’s downfall on the day as he was sent off after five minutes.

Star winger Adam Johnson languished on the bench that day as well as City’s next league match away to Wolves. Matters started bright for City as they took a deserved 0-1 lead through Emmanuel Adebayor’s early penalty but then seemed to sit back and invite an accepting Wolves attack to pursue the equalizer. While Johnson has seen his fair bit of action in the Premier League this year, and more recently as a substitute, a player of his quality should be getting the full 90 minutes each weekend as long as match fitness proves he can.

Other instances under scrunty while Mancini’s watchful eye flutters include Shay Given and Joe Hart’s late night drinking session in Scotland, rumors of unsettling within the squad and now Carlos Tevez’s (easily City’s best player) prolonged injury/vacation back home to Argentina. All points raise the question of whether or not Mancini actually has the trust of and control over his squad.

While I don’t believe Roberto Mancini to be a poor manager or one in decline, his exclusion of Johnson as a starter in the Premier League continues to baffle me. The aforementioned Europa League loss on Thursday did witness Johnson start the match, but he was surrounded by what was essentially City’s B squad – Patrick Vieira, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Pablo Zabaleta.

Is Mancini seriously lumping his star winger in the categegory of matches deemed less important than the Premier League? What’s going on with Johnson or at City that we don’t know about? While Mancini’s tactics that served him so well in Serie A with Inter Milan have witnessed City reach 4th spot and likely qualify for the next round of Europa League play, one could only imagine what City would look like both on the pitch and in the table had Mancini set out to attack with Adam Johnson as one of his focal points.

Adam Johnson is a star in the making in the Premier League. There’s no doubt he’ll be as good of a winger as Gareth Bale soon and with age on his side, could terrorize left backs in the Premier League for years to come.

The ever increasing pressure on Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has reached a new height after City’s disappointing Europa League defeat at Lech Poznan. It is now three straight defeats for Mancini and now means Sunday’s trip to West Brom, a ground where City have already tasted defeated this season, is crucial.

A trip to Poland on a wet Thursday night was always going to be difficult, but with the strength of City’s squad most would have expected them to return with a solid European win. Once again though Mancini found that his opponents raised their game meaning a tough trip became even harder.

This is becoming the norm this season. City have become a big scalp and in attempting to beat them, sides raise their game accordingly. Mancini has found this very difficult to deal with. The expectation of the club and it’s fans are that City should win most games comfortably, where in reality an easy win won’t be the norm.

It doesn’t help Mancini that his own players further add to the expectations of the fans with wild claims about their ability. Ahead of the Poznan game outspoken Mario Balotelli set out his ambitions for his time in Manchester.

Speaking to the official City website he said: “I want to be the best player in the world. It is good to have ambition. I’ve said in the past that I don’t care what other people want or expect of me because I know what I want.

“I will always give everything because I want to become the best. That is my aim and I am determined to make it happen. I am here at City to play Champions League football, that’s the competition I want to be in and that is what all the players here want to play in.”

 I’m sure Balotelli was only looking to drum up some excitement ahead of his expected start against Poznan, but when City fans, and maybe even the clubs hierarchy read comments like that they will be expecting big things of the striker, and ultimately the City side. This makes disappointing results feel a lot worse when they arise.

Unfortunately for Mancini you have to feel that too many of these disappointing results have occurred and it seems only a matter of time before Sheikh Mansour will be looking for a new boss. Whoever comes in to replace Mancini should make lowering expectations his top priority, because if he doesn’t he will soon face the same fate as Mancini.

In some fans’ and pundits’ opinion, Manchester City appears to be the team best equipped to challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title. But last Saturday 2-1 defeat at Wolves showed that despite all the talent there are evidently a few holes that need to be filled in.  First credit must be given to Wolves who were outstanding and fully deserved their victory – coming back from a goal down after a soft penalty decision against (Richard Sterman) on David Silva, slotted away coolly by Abebayor.  I am on the side of the fence that believes Wolves play very good football and have been mislabelled as a physical football team.

Manchester City has two major concerns, in midfield and upfront.

Case 1: midfield: for all the talent it possesses, the three-man midfield last Saturday of Barry, Milner and Ya-Ya Toare were simply leaving full-backs Micah Richards & Jerome Boateng exposed again.  Two direct and talented wingers in the in-form – Matt Jarvis and Stephen Hunt – led in wide areas to provide service to Edwards and Doyle. Proof of that were both of Wolves’ goals as first Jarvis and then Hunt had enough time and space to have tea and biscuits before providing the delivery.

Case 2: Attack: This is where City are still to find the right partnership. Without Tevez, City look lightweight upfront without a real striker with the predatory instincts that he possesses.  Abebayor will have his moments of brilliance but more often than not frustrates, as with Balotelli; he is finding his feet and fitness and requires time to establish himself in the Premier League after his Jekyll (first half) and Hyde (second half) performance. Abebayor and Balotelli were not on the same wavelength for the match, running into same areas and not appearing to show a partnership together, City’s can only hope that Tevez’s return is speedy as otherwise this minor dip in form could have disastrous concequences.

I would like to see City play with two natural wingers (in Milner and Johnson), with Silva playing in the ‘hole’ behind Tevez (or at present Adebayor) to provide them better balance in wide areas and protection for the exposed areas at full backs – especially on the left, a position where City have employed 8 different team members already this season.

With some fine-tuning in midfield and upfront – something that will surely be corrected in the January transfer window – City will prove to be a side to challenge for the title, but they still have plenty to learn.