Premier League Monday: Liverpool Thrash Manchester City 3-0 At Anfield

The City captain is believed to have a hamstring tear, which if true would put the rest of his season in some doubt, and he’ll almost certainly miss the match against Manchester United this weekend. Mario Balotelli, the man who came in for Tevez, also appeared to pick up a knock - the striker was clearly troubled by a back problem after being flattened by Lucas - and was himself replaced by Nigel de Jong with a few minutes left on the clock. His injury is not expected to be particularly serious, however.

So, 3-0 down with Carlos Tevez apparently badly injured. Not the best first half for Roberto Mancini and co.

Manchester City have finally showed up at Anfield so we’re going to have a game after all. Kenny Daglish hands a full debut to right back John Flanagan in the absence of both Martin Kelly and Glen Johnson, with Liverpool lining up in 4-4-2 to accommodate both Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll.

Manchester City play both Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko, dropping both Nigel de Jong and David Silva to the bench in an odd system that sees Tevez mostly played as a withdrawn striker. They too are in dire straits at right back - Dedryck Boyata starts with both Micah Richards and Jerome Boateng on the treatment table.

Someone should probably tell Roberto Mancini that Liverpool aren’t really scary enough to warrant scurrying away and hiding, especially as City destroyed the Reds earlier this season. Current theory: Little Mario Balotelli is lost and the team bus has stopped to look for him. Follow the trail of darts!

But, no matter. Aston Villa won, could have scored more goals, and looked defensively solid throughout the match. They’re now in 14th place, while Newcastle, two points ahead, are in ninth. Both sides now look like they’ll probably manage to avoid the drop into the Championship next year.

Blackpool came out for the second half apparently refreshed and rejuvenated. It wasn’t long until they had clawed one back, Gary Taylor-Fletcher sweeping a loose ball home, but their defensive organisation was much-improved from the first half without compromising their famous attacking flair and they looked for a spell like they were more likely to get the equaliser than Arsenal were to pull away.

Blackpool aren’t giving up, of course, and they keep trying to test Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal - but their strategy of walking in his direction until he clears the ball is being met with only moderate success at this point. The Tangerines have less than ten minutes left to score twice.

*With no backup goalkeeper!

Really, Arsenal have been playing some quite lovely football. Their buildup play has been superb, and they’ve finished enough chances to get themselves a victory. On another day, they might be left ruing their missed opportunities, but it doesn’t look like that will happen today.

Blackpool have... had a DJ Campbell shot cleared off the line. That’s something, I suppose, but it’s not looking good for the relegation threatened Tangerines, who are defending like a gaggle of drunken badgers.

It’s business as usual between Blackpool and Arsenal in their English Premier League match at Bloomfield Road, as both managers have selected their typical teams without surprises. A red card lead to a 6-0 Arsenal win in the first match of the season between these two at the Emirates Stadium, but it seems likely that Blackpool won’t go down so easily in this encounter. With relegation staring them in the face, the Tangerines, who are just one point above the drop zone, should be focused.

Arsenal lineup (4-2-3-1): Lehman; Clichy, Koscielny, Squillaci, Sagna; Diaby, Wilshere; Arshavin, Nasri, Fabregas; van Persie

Despite five goals in the first half, the second remained scoreless mostly thanks to a heroically poor effort from Potter striker Jon Walters, who managed to hit the post from two yards out and the goal gaping shortly after the break. It was the closest the visitors would come to an equaliser, and although they spent the remainder of the match pressing for a goal they simply couldn’t find one.

The result, astonishingly, puts West Brom into the top half of the table, and they now look certain to avoid relegation with 39 points and six matches to go. Sunderland, meanwhile, are sliding down the bottom half, sitting in 13th place after being in contention for the European slots for much of the year. It’s been an odd turn of events for the Black Cats, and some are now calling for manager Steve Bruce’s head. They may have a point.

If you thought all of that action in the first half would lead to a fun second half, you thought wrong. It’s probably best to pretend it didn’t happen, to be honest.

Get it together, FSC.tv. ESPN 3 provides a free product that is nearly flawless. As long as illegal streams remain available (and they will), people will stop paying for your service. Not the best long-term business strategy.

PS-- FSC.tv worked just fine when showing advertisements. Telling, isn’t it?

United look very good on the attack, although Fulham’s forward players are giving a makeshift defence some problems. However, the visitors can’t afford to press too high - although they’ve put together some promising attacks United are looking hugely dangerous on the counterattack.