Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur: 'Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck are a very interesting combination for Arsenal,' says Arsene Wenger

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Ahead of tomorrow's north London derby against Tottenham, Arsene Wenger has spoken of his delight at his attacking pairing of Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck, saying that the two are a "very interesting combination" for Arsenal.

The pair combined to devastating effect in the 3-0 victory over Aston Villa last weekend, with either setting up a goal for the other.

"Ozil played very well with Welbeck [against Villa]," said Wenger. "That's a very interesting combination for us."

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Arsenal were knocked out of the League Cup on Tuesday after losing 2-1 at home against Southampton. Wenger made 10 changes to the side who beat Villa for that match, and he says it will be a much-changed Gunners' starting XI for the derby at the Emirates.

 

"It was a disappointment to go out against Southampton but there will be a completely different team tomorrow."

ESPANYOL vs. GETAFE Live Stream FREE Online: 2014 La Liga Table, Live Coverage From Barcelona, Projected Lineups and TACTICAL PREVIEW

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Getafe look to rise in the Spanish BBVA table. (Photo : Reuters)

Two clubs in the relegation zone of the Liga BBVA table will do battle today in a league match between Espanyol and Getafe. The first-division clash scheduled for 2 p.m. ET will be held at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat in Barcelona and can be live streamed here free.

Getafe manager Sergio Gonzalez had this to offer ahead of today's league encounter (via Inside Spanish Football): "The team are in a process of maturity and despite the results, I think we're learning and progressing every week. Sometimes we take a bigger step than in others, and we know there's still a lot of room for improvement. The upcoming game against Getafe is a vital one for us. Every game we play is an important one and this match won't be any different."

Tactical Preview

Player to Watch: Getafe's Sergio Garcia has been the lone bright spot in the club's early season woes. The 31-year-old has two goals, one assist and average of two take-ons per match.

Espanyol's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Casilla; Alvarez, Gonzalez, Colotto, Lopez; Sanchez, Canas; Montañes, Garcia, Vazquez; Calcedo

Getafe's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Escudero, Alexis, Naldo, Arroyo; Michel, Rodriguez, Lafita, Sammir, Sarabia; Vazquez

Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (lineups and statistics via WhoScored).

Standings

	Rnk		Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
	1		FC Barcelona	5	4	1	0	11	0	11	13
	2		Sevilla FC	5	4	1	0	9	3	6	13
	3		Atlético Madrid	5	3	2	0	7	4	3	11
	4		Valencia CF	4	3	1	0	10	2	8	10
	5		Real Madrid CF	5	3	0	2	18	9	9	9
	6		Celta de Vigo	5	2	3	0	10	7	3	9
	7		Villarreal CF	5	2	2	1	7	4	3	8
	8		Granada CF	5	2	2	1	4	3	1	8
	9		Eibar	5	2	1	2	5	4	1	7
	10		Málaga CF	5	1	3	1	3	5	-2	6
	11		UD Almería	5	1	2	2	4	5	-1	5
	12		Rayo Vallecano	5	1	2	2	8	10	-2	5
	13		Real Sociedad	5	1	1	3	7	8	-1	4
	14		Deportivo La Coruña	5	1	1	3	7	14	-7	4
	15		Elche CF	5	1	1	3	5	13	-8	4
	16		Levante UD	5	1	1	3	1	10	-9	4
	17		Athletic Club	5	1	0	4	4	6	-2	3
	18		Getafe CF	4	1	0	3	2	8	-6	3
	19		RCD Espanyol	4	0	2	2	5	8	-3	2
	20		Córdoba CF	4	0	2	2	3	7	-4	2

Jose Mourinho & Manuel Pellegrini: The latest great rivalry?

Manchester City's meeting with Chelsea at Etihad Stadium was a collision of the Premier League's two current superpowers.

The game ended with honours even between the two teams likely to be contesting the title when it reaches its decisive stage, and the 1-1 drawgave both City manager Manuel Pellegrini and Chelsea's Jose Mourinho an indication as to how their seasons may unfold.

Chelsea stay five points ahead of City and three points clear of second-placed Southampton - so what are the sub-plots that will accompany their fight for the title?

The new Fergie v Wenger?

Sir Alex Ferguson enjoyed a rivalry with Arsene Wenger for many years

Manchester City and Chelsea have the look of two clubs who will dominate the Premier League title race - and who will have a managerial rivalry to go along with it.

Sir Alex Ferguson's relationship with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in the "Pizzagate" years - which began when Ferguson was struck by flying foodstuffs hurled from Arsenal's dressing room in 2004 - only truly thawed once the Gunners were no longer deemed a serious threat to Manchester United's supremacy.

And when Liverpool briefly emerged as a possible danger to United, what had started as a cordial relationship between Ferguson and Rafael Benitez degenerated swiftly, culminating in a famous monologue from the Spaniard bemoaning the Scot's influence over officials and the game in general.

Do we have the natural succession in the barely-concealed contempt between Manchester City's Pellegrini and his Chelsea counterpart Mourinho?

Head-to-head
Mourinho		Pellegrini
7	Won	1
2	Drawn	2
28	Goals scored	10

The relationship was already fractured from the days when Mourinho succeeded Pellegrini at Real Madrid and appeared to scoff at the fact that the Chilean then went to Malaga to rebuild the next phase of an excellent coaching career.

And judging by their antics after Sunday's draw at Etihad Stadium, it is likely the pair will provide a running sub-plot to this season's Premier League title battle.

It was behaviour that did little credit to either man, who should have far more pressing issues to attend to as the season progresses.

Mourinho performed his usual trick of getting the City's manager's name wrong with references to "Pellegrino", while Pellegrini delivered a nonsensical barb about Chelsea playing like "a small team" - reviving memories of a Benitez insult aimed at Everton after a goalless Merseyside derby at Anfield.

Pellegrini accused Chelsea of playing like a small team, adding that they played like Stoke City

The mischief of Mourinho is long in the making and is, according to his detractors, well-practised, but Pellegrini's reputation is that of the measured, quiet man.

Appearances can be deceptive, as those present when he lambasted the officials after last season's Champions League loss at home to Barcelona, and after last weekend's draw at Arsenal, will testify.

It is clear the Portuguese can get under his skin and you suspect Chelsea's manager may take the opportunity to indulge himself further should the stresses of the title race increase.

Lampard does Premier League a favour?

Frank Lampard's goal for Manchester City against the club he served with such distinction prevented Chelsea from opening up an eight-point gap over the Premier League champions, who are regarded as the team that will run them closest this season.

The advantage may not have been a deal breaker in title terms but would certainly have established an imposing lead with arguably Chelsea's toughest league fixture of the season out of the way,

The Stamford Bridge club have still made an outstanding start, despite losing their 100% league record, and hold a three-point lead over Southampton.

Lampard left Chelsea after 13 years to join MLS side New York City, before arriving at Man City on loan

City are only five points behind and the suspicion remains that there is so much more to come from Pellegrini's team, who also showed great spirit and resilience to come back from a goal behind following Pablo Zabaleta's sending-off.

As for Lampard, what a moment it was for the 36-year-old, who attained legendary status at Chelsea after becoming their all-time record scorer with 211 goals in 648 appearances before leaving and securing a move to New York City FC.

The former England midfielder is on loan at City until January and demonstrated that plenty of his footballing faculties remain intact as he punished Chelsea for failing to track him into the area with five minutes left, a volley expertly slid beyond Thibaut Courtois providing the evidence.

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Scoring was a strange feeling - Lampard

If there is one exception to the latter-day, and ridiculously overdone, habit of refusing to celebrate against a former club, Lampard scoring against Chelsea probably provides it.

He was understandably suffering mixed emotions as he turned away: a job completed with his trademark professionalism on one hand, while also respecting the Chelsea fans who gave him a rapturous reception throughout on the other, and who set aside their own disappointment to repeat the acclaim after the final whistle.

Lampard took the applause of both sets of supporters, but there was poignancy as he fell into the arms of long-time Chelsea team-mate Petr Cech in front of the travelling fans.

He will not be around when the Premier League title is decided, but Lampard has once again made his contribution.

A match made in heaven?

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany confirmed he is in the elite bracket of the world's defenders with a magnificent performance in a fierce physical battle with Chelsea's Diego Costa.

And Martin Demichelis has done much better than he has been given credit for in recent months, playing a key role in City's title win last season and also playing in the World Cup final for Argentina when they lost to Germany in Rio de Janeiro.

Mangala, a £32m summer arrival from FC Porto, made his Man City debut against Chelsea on Sunday

But the partnership between Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala on Sunday was a glimpse of the long-term future at City and the fans will have loved what they saw.

Both big, quick, powerful and tremendous athletes, they were a formidable barrier and looked the identikit of what is required in the modern defender.

Mangala has had to bide his time after his £32m summer move from Porto, but the 23-year-old French defender looked the part from the first whistle against such a dangerous Chelsea attack.

Chelsea show old steel

Jose Mourinho's side have been accused of sacrificing some of their trademark defensive steel in exchange for the attacking options offered bythe arrival of £32m striker Costa and midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Match facts
Chelsea's goal came from their first shot on target	Eight of Chelsea's last nine league goals have come in the second half
Man City keeper Joe Hart made his 200th Premier League appearance	Yaya Toure has not scored or assisted a league goal so far this season

Questions were raised, not least by the manager, after his side were opened up in the 6-3 win at Everton and even in the 4-2 victory against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge.

Here at Manchester City, the steel at the back made its return as Chelsea stood firm in the face of City's attacks and showed again that they have a worthy goalkeeping successor to Cech in Courtois, an authoritative and commanding figure.

Chelsea have shown their potency in attack but Mourinho will have been reassured by how his defence and goalkeeper performed against such dangerous opponents.

DORTMUND AND STUTTGART ON THE REBOUND THIS WEDNESDAY

Dortmund - Two heavyweights of the German game lock horns in Westphalia on Wednesday night (kick-off: 18:00 GMT/20:00 CEST), as Borussia Dortmund and VfB Stuttgart go in search of a much-needed pick-me-up after defeats at the weekend.

pre-match lowdown ahead of the appetising Signal Iduna Park encounter...

The stakes

Dortmund started last season with four straight victories and are therefore already six points behind that bounty after the same number of games this term. As for Stuttgart, while they had at least won a game at the same stage of last term, they are in similarly precarious territory with tension mounting.

Dortmund team news

Dortmund's injury list seems endless with Henrikh Mkhitaryan's name added on Sunday. He joins Mats Hummels, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Marco Reus, Oliver Kirch and Nuri Sahin in the treatment room. Elsewhere, Jürgen Klopp has ruled out the chance of Ilkay Gündogan making a surprise return.

Stuttgart team news

Mohammed Abdellaoue is not yet ready to make his contribution to the Stuttgart cause this season, leaving coach Armin Veh with the same set of first-team players at his disposal as he had for the 2-0 defeat to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at the weekend.

Key player: Dortmund

Shinji Kagawa made a dream return to Dortmund with a goal on his second debut for the club, and such inspiration is what BVB need against Stuttgart. His trickery and tenacity behind the attacker - be it Ciro Immobile or Adrian Ramos - gives the Westphalians an additional scoring outlet, as well as a creative spark.

Key player: Stuttgart

Daniel Didavi suffered from injuries for most of last season, but he is now back to showing the same kind of form seen during his 1. FC Nürnberg days. He had a successful 2012/13 season on loan there, but Stuttgart refused to let him stay and, with his dangerous incursions from the left causing havoc, it's not hard to see why.

What they are saying

Jürgen Klopp (Dortmund coach): What is it they say? First we had no luck, and then we got some bad luck on top.

Oriol Romeu (Stuttgart midfielder): All we are lacking is a good result. We're going to need a good performance to get that, but we hope to spring a surprise.

Current form

Dortmund's topsy-turvy start to the season has shown glimpses of brilliance intermingled with some worrying wobbles, resulting in an inconsistent start to 2014/15. Stuttgart have at least shown consistency, albeit negative. VfB are facing frustrating times though, with their sole point not a true reflection of their form.

History

Stuttgart's last win over Dortmund came in January 2010, since which BVB have triumphed four times with four draws, including a sensational 4-4 draw in March 2012. Stuttgart will not have fond memories of their last visit to the Signal Iduna Park, though - they were demolished 6-1just under a year ago.

Possible line-ups:

Dortmund: Weidenfeller - Piszczek, Subotic, Sokratis, Schmelzer - Bender, Jojic - Aubameyang, Kagawa, Großkreutz - Ramos

Stuttgart: Ulreich - Klein, Schwaab, Rüdiger, Sakai - Oriol Romeu, Gentner - Werner, Didavi, Leitner - Ibisevic

Click here to find your local broadcaster for this match

Transfer rumors: Manchester United bosses to thrash out January plan

Some would say that Clint Dempsey is the face of American soccer. 

If he is in fact the face of American soccer, one would expect a random stranger to be able to identify his face even if he were not in uniform or on the pitch, right?For those interested in learning more about Clint Dempsey, he is on your TV screen almost every week when ESPN airs MLS games featuring his Seattle Sounders.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is set to meet Ed Woodward this week as the club step up their January transfer plans, Goal UK has learned.

Van Gaal, who is hoping to spend up to 50 million pounds this winter, has long considered Kevin Strootman his No. 1 target and is also keen to bolster his defense following a shaky start to the season.

Following the second biggest summer transfer spend in history, such an outlay would take the club past the £200m barrier for the 2014-15 season.

The Dutchman has become well aware of the task on his hands at Old Trafford following a poor start to the season which has garnered just one win from five Premier League matches, including the humbling 5-3 defeat at Leicester City on Sunday.

And as he displayed in the summer, the former Bayern Munich coach is willing to let players go to fund new arrivals.

The position of Rafael, who signed for the club alongside twin brother Fabio in 2007 and made his debut a year later, is under threat and he could be shown the door as Van Gaal continues to build a squad in his image.

The Brazilian enjoyed his best season at Old Trafford in the 2012-13 campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson's last as manager, but struggled for form and fitness under David Moyes and he could face the same fate as Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, Javier Hernandez, Nani and Shinji Kagawa.

Chris Smalling, who is behind Phil Jones and Jonny Evans in the pecking order at center back, finds himself in the same boat and could also be moved on.

Louis van Gaal (AP Photo)

However, Woodward, the club's executive vice chairman, has already told investors that big spending is not on the cards in January and is aware of the impact that another big outlay could have on next year's accounts.

United recently announced a record annual revenue of £433.2m to June 30, 2014, an increase of 19 percent, and also revealed profits of £23.8m.

Those figures, though, do not include five of the club's six summer acquisitions, with the signings of Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Radamel Falcao's loan deal to be declared in next year's results.

But Woodward is also aware of the impact of a second year without Champions League football on the club's existing sponsorship deals, as well as its forecasted financial results for next year, and will discuss the viability of further deals with Van Gaal.

Although Van Gaal fully appreciates the need for new central defenders, he remains keen on Strootman, the Netherlands and Roma midfielder, and United is confident it could reach a deal either in January or the summer.

The club has made his representatives aware that he would earn £100,000 per week at Old Trafford, should he recover sufficiently from a serious knee injury, although Roma has repeatedly stated its desire to keep him in the Italian capital.

Strootman was pivotal to Van Gaal's Dutch squad and his injury signaled a change in formation for the country's World Cup campaign. The manager believes the 24-year-old can play an equally important role in his United team as he looks to strike the right balance in his ranks following the signings of some of the world's top attacking talents.

The Red Devils, having bought only Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw before the start of the Premier League season, kicked off the campaign with defeat to Swansea City at Old Trafford before drawing at Sunderland and Burnley.

Van Gaal picked up his first win as United boss in impressive style against QPR on Sept. 14, with Di Maria, Marcos Rojo and Blind impressing on their Old Trafford debuts, but saw his side capitulate following the award of a soft penalty at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.