Paul Parker Index

With just under a third of the season gone, it looks like the Premier League title could be heading down south to London. Arsenal have played the best-looking football so far and I would love to say they were my favourites to win the league, but that label has to go to Chelsea. Carlo Ancelotti's side...More

88 comments

Match of the weekend: Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur This is a real test of Tottenham's ambitions. They have a bigger squad than Arsenal and more strength in depth, but lack individuals with the quality of Andrei Arshavin or Cesc Fabregas. Arsenal have started the season well, but they have frailties in defence and you...More

34 comments

Alex Ferguson was wrong to again drag the referee into post-match discussions following Manchester United's defeat to Liverpool. The United boss suggested that Andre Mariner was too inexperienced to handle a game of that magnitude, but how else is a referee supposed to become experienced if they don't officiate those kinds of games? Mariner didn't...More

95 comments

Match of the weekend: Liverpool v Manchester United Liverpool versus Manchester United is the biggest game of the season for both teams, and this time there are even more reasons to get excited. You have to go back to 1953 for the last time Liverpool lost five on the bounce, and a defeat on Sunday...More

74 comments

The appearance of that rogue beach ball aside, there was little out of the ordinary at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. Without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, not to mention Javier Mascherano for the majority of the game, Liverpool were as poor as expected and defeat came as no surprise. That's four out of nine lost so far...More

158 comments

Match of the weekend: Portsmouth v TottenhamActually, this one is more event of the weekend than match of the weekend, considering the likelihood of Spurs winning all three points at Fratton Park. Nevertheless Harry Redknapp's return to his former stomping ground is sure to make this one a must-watch game....More

49 comments

It was unsurprising to see Rio Ferdinand struggling during England's defeat to Ukraine, but calls for his head are premature. The Manchester United defender was horribly at fault when he failed to deal with a long ball early on in England's penultimate World Cup qualifier, leading to the incident which led to Robert Green's sending off...More

98 comments

They may have already qualified for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, but England must still go out and give their all in the final two World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus. So far England have done fantastically well to put together an impressive string of results, but they cannot think that their...More

42 comments

Liverpool's defeat to Chelsea at the weekend has prompted talk that their title bid has ended already. But it is far too early to dismiss their hopes as easily as that. Things can change quickly in football, and all it will take is a couple of results to go their way and they...More

91 comments