Berbatov Grabs 5 in 36 Goal-Packed Premier League Saturday

A record breaking Premier League Saturday - wonder goals were scored, penalties were saved, red cards were brandished and 36 goals rippled the net. It was quite unbelievable.

The early kick off saw Arsenal defeat Aston Villa and the golden oldie and returning Arsenal legend Robert Pires by four goals to two. Arshavin and Nasri lifted Arsenal to a two goal lead in the first half, while Ciaran Clark scored to revive some hope before Marouane Chamakh scored 4 minutes later. Clark then scored again to raise Villa hopes again, but Jack Wilshere finished the game in the 90th minute to temporarily put Arsenal top.
They were probably hoping Blackburn would give United a good fight. If they were, they would havebeen bitterly disappointed. http://bit.ly/hxBxSi (Goals)

Manchester United grabbed 7 goals in a 7 - 1 win against Blackburn in which Dimitar Berbatov - the guy who hadn't scored since his hat-trick against Liverpool, and was said to be preparing to be sold by United in the summer - scored 5 goals. Luis Nani and Ji Sung Park scored the others, but Berbatov grabbed the match ball in delight (or his composed version of it) at the end of the game in a match that shoots his goal tally up to 11 for the season and fires Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League with a dramatically increased goal difference. (Goals) http://bit.ly/hxBxSi

Carlos Tevez announced once again that he was unhappy playing football, but Manchester City hoped to put this aside and roll over Stoke City at the Brittania. They almost won too, as Micah Richards scored from 12 yards out inthe 81st minute. But Matthew Etherington slotted home after a nice move in the ninetirth minute to crush City's hopes and squeeze a point from the game.

The other results today included a win from West Ham against relegation rivals Wigan for a precious three points, a Bolton comeback from two goals down against Blackpool, a Wolves - Sunderland thriller where Ebanks-Blake scored in the 89th minute to take the three points, and a Fulham - Birmingham draw. 2 red cards and 5 goals in the match between Everton and West Brom saw the Toffees lose their cool, and lose Arteta in a 58 minute stamp on Jara.

The full list of results are as follows:

Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal

Bolton 2 - 2 Blackpool

Manchester United 7 - 1 Blackburn

Everton 1 - 4 West Brom

Fulham 1 - 1 Birmingham

Stoke 1 - 1 Manchester City

West Ham 3 - 1 Wigan

Wolves 3 - 2 Sunderland

Liverpool to start Re-building with two new wingers

So far, Liverpool have had an odd season. Their poor performances have seen them drop into the relegation zone, and their top players have been out of sorts - finding it tough to have a good game in a red shirt. Compare this misery with the relief of having new owners, ones that promise not to plunge the club in debt but willing to invest, and Liverpool fans may be unable to decide whether the season so far has been good or bad.

They have plenty of time to decide however, and one person whom will be a catalyst in the answer to that question, is Roy Hodgson. The Liverpool manager has been promised a substantial amount of money to spend in the January, and summer transfer windows. He will have £30 million to spend in each period, and those keen mathematicians will have already worked out that this totals £60 million - a sum that the previous Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez could only have dreamed of under the previous owners.

Hodgson is already reported to have identified a couple of player that could dig Liverpool out of the mess that they currently find themselves in.

Chris Brunt of West Brom is a rather surprising rumour that is circulating. The Irish winger is very versatile and has been a big player for his current club, inspiring his team to a shock win against Arsenal this season, and generally being a source of many goals in the newly promoted team. He is able to play on both wings as well as playing just behind the striker, and it may be this versatility that has caught Hodgsons eye.

Being Albion's best player this season, they will be looking for around £9 million for him, a sum that Liverpool can now easily afford.

The other player that Hodgson is monitoring is the Portugese left wing-back, Fabio Coentrao. He impressed in the World Cup for his native Portugal - delivering excellent crosses for Cristiano Ronaldo, and being a big threat throughout the tournament. He caught the eye of Carlo Ancelotti too, and that summer, Chelsea were reportedly interested, but no deal materialised. The Benfica man will probably cost more than Brunt, but a player of his quality, of which he displayed in the World Cup would be welcomed with open arms at Andield, as the team are in dire need of some pace and creativity.

Hodgson does not have great support from the Liverpool fans, as some are calling for him to be sacked already, so his activity in the transfer market will be heavily scrutinised. Without the excuse of greedy, unwilling owners to hide behind anymore, the Liverpool manager will have to deliver the goods, or risk the wrath of the fans.

Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent. Man United lack Form and Class

Once upon a time, it took something very special to come back from two goals down against against a Manchester United side. It didn't matter how good the team was - when Manchester United took the lead - they kept it. But recently, something very different has been happening. Something that the opposition team has been welcoming with delight.

On Saturday, not for the first time this season, and by the look of the poor defensive performances, not the last, Manchester United conceded two goals and allowed the opposition, West Brom, to come back from behind.

An early Chicharito goal was welcomed with relief, settling nerves of the United fans who have witnessed with horror the recent performances of their out of sorts side. A Nani strike after a nice interchange with Berbatov was the goal that looked as if it had killed off West Brom, but with United's recent form, anything was possible.

What happened next? True enough, West Brom came back thanks to a goal-line scramble, and then a cringe-worthy but very rare blunder from Edwin van der Sar.

From this point, the game could have gone a number of ways, and the old Manchester United that I have watched in the past few years would have dusted themselves down, pulled up their socks, tightened their boots and grab a winning goal. That is what true champions do. The problem this year is, United aren't looking like true Champions.

Both Rooney and Scholes came off the bench in the second half - to a great reception from the hopeful fans. However, their impact was very limited. Every single one of Wayne Rooney's touches were analysed, and unfortunately for him, none of them were any good. Poor touches and wayward passes were Rooney's main feature during his fifteen minutes on the pitch, however, this draw which feels like a loss cannot be blamed on him.

In the last twenty minutes - once, the period of the game in which teams were most afraid of Manchester United was, like the whole of the second half - abysmal. No chances of any merit were created, which suggest a real lack of class from Manchester United. When Giggs came off with an injury in the 43rd minute, Darron Gibson came on to replace him. Not a winger, but a central midfielder. Why? Because there were no wingers on the bench.

Antonio Valencia is being missed, but this draw goes much deeper than a winger lost to injury. This is more than just poor form. This is a lack of class which Manchester United so dearly need if they are to steal the Premier League back from Chelsea. If a January spending spree is not required to buy some class to inject into the tired looking team, then Sir Alex Ferguson has a real job of waking up his players and get them back onto a track that they have veered so wildly off.

Almunia will miss Arsenals next match, but will Arsenal miss him?

Arsenal will play Partizan Belgrade during the week, and the figure in their goal - to the relief of Arsenal fans will not be Manuel Almunia. That's the good news for you Arsenal fans - the only good news, because the goalkeeper to replace Almunia will be Fabianski.

Almunia will miss the match because he picked up an injury against West Brom on Saturday when he dived in at Odemwingies feet to give away a penalty. He saved the resulting penalty, but stayed true to his low standards with a blunder to allow a shot to bounce off of his arms (with the intention of preventing the goal of course!) and end up in his net, which what should have been a routine save.

Fabianski being the replacement may also give Arsenal fans a sick feeling in their stomach with mistakes and costly errors just around the corner for the Polish "stopper". Why Wenger didn't rip open his cheque-book and drive himself to the nearest football club (it doesn't matter where) and find himself a new goalkeeper in the summer is beyond me. Anyone would have done. Just someone. It's even more baffling when you consider that Arsenal recorded about £56 million of profits for last season. As well as being linked to a £30 million teenager from the Barcelona B-Team, Oriol Romeu, Wenger needed to get his priorities right instead of sticking with the keepers he has and disappointing the Arsenal fans that trust him so much.