Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Republic of Ireland v Andorra

Friday, October 8th, 2010
Republic of Ireland v Russia

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Slovakia v Republic of Ireland

Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Republic of Ireland v Macedonia

Saturday, June 4th, 2011
Macedonia v Republic of Ireland

Friday, September 2nd, 2011
Republic of Ireland v Slovakia

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
Russia v Republic of Ireland

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Andorra v Republic of Ireland

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Republic of Ireland v Armenia

Liverpool broke the deadlock with Blackburn after 19 minutes, Gerrard spread the play to Yossi Benayoun out wide left and, after the Israeli had maneuvered into the box, Steven Gerrard was back on the scene to slip in the opener. A cheeky handball from Jamie Carragher while grounded in the Reds’ box was seen by the officials, allowing Keith Andrews to bring Rovers level from the spot. But then Anfield saw the sight they’ve been missing for much of the season as Fernando Torres was able to restored Liverpool’s lead from a neat Maxi pass.

via 101 Great Goals

Relief broke out at Anfield 10 minutes from the break as Liverpool took the lead against Bolton when Dirk Kuyt slid home after Insua crossed from the left and Aquilani did well to head the ball back across goal for the Dutchman. The Merseysiders made sure of the points midway through the second half when an Insua shot took a wicked deflection off Kevin Davies for 2-nil.

The most intriguing ties involve the two Milan teams playing Man Utd and Chelsea

First legs to be played on 16/17 and 23/24 February with the second legs scheduled for 9/10 and 16/17 March.

Here is the list of seedings, arranged into their respective pots. The qualifying competition will comprise six groups of six teams (groups A-F) and three groups of five teams (groups G-I). Sides in each group will play one another on a home and away basis, with qualifying matches scheduled according to the international match calendar between September 2010 and November 2011. The nine winners and the best runner-up qualify directly for the final tournament. The eight remaining runners-up contest play-off matches.. Note for Pot 3 Poland and Ukraine are not included in the qualifying as they qualify automatically as joint hosts. And by the way, the draw doesnt take place until February 7th 2010 in Warsaw. Meanwhile the draw for the finals of the World Cup in South Africa in the summer takes place next Friday.

Ranking to be used for the UEFA EURO 2012
Qualifying Draw National Team Coefficients Overview
WC 2006: 20% (Q/F)
EURO 2008: 40% (Q/F)
WC 2010: 40% (Q/–)

Pot 1 – Top Seeds

1 ) Spain 39,964
2 ) Germany 38,294
3 ) Netherlands 37,821
4 ) Italy 35,838
5 ) England 34,819
6 ) Croatia 33,677
7 ) Portugal 33,226
8 ) France 32,551
9 ) Russia 32,477

Pot 2

10 ) Greece 31,268
11 ) Czech Republic 30,871
12 ) Sweden 30,695
13 ) Switzerland 30,395
14 ) Serbia 29,811
15 ) Turkey 29,447
16 ) Denmark 29,222
17 ) Slovakia 28,228
18 ) Romania 28,145

Pot 3

19 ) Ukraine 28,133
20 ) Israel 28,052
21 ) Bulgaria 27,198
22 ) Finland 26,827
23 ) Poland 26,620
24 ) Norway 26,210
25 ) Republic of Ireland 25,971
26 ) Scotland 25,646
27 ) Northern Ireland 24,518
28 ) Austria 24,381
29 ) Bosnia-Herzegovina 24,365

Pot 4

30 ) Slovenia 24,221
31 ) Latvia 23,303
32 ) Hungary 23,048
33 ) Lithuania 22,071
34 ) Belarus 21,515
35 ) Belgium 21,426
36 ) Wales 21,274
37 ) F.Y.R. Macedonia 19,409
38 ) Cyprus 18,791

Pot 5

39 ) Montenegro 18,751
40 ) Albania 18,319
41 ) Estonia 17,792
42 ) Georgia 15,819
43 ) Moldova 15,734
44 ) Iceland 15,404
45 ) Armenia 15,164
46 ) Kazakhstan 14,730
47 ) Liechtenstein 13,581

Pot 6

48 ) Azerbaijan 13,500
49 ) Luxembourg 11,872
50 ) Malta 11,517
51 ) Faroe Islands 10,620
52 ) Andorra 9,197
53 ) San Marino 7,783

via uefa.com

It is understood there would be a top tier of 18 clubs, with promotion and relegation to and from the league. Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp have backed the inclusion of the Scottish clubs.

The proposals are a revival of Gartside’s ideas which received a hostile reception from the Premier League’s 20 chairmen six months ago.

However, Gartside, the driving force behind the revamp, has tweaked the original plans to include promotion and relegation to and from the dual-tier league, while the two Scottish clubs would initially be invited to join the lower tier.

The Bolton chairman is also believed to be open to inviting an Irish franchise into the league in the future.

Aston Villa 		2 - 1 		Chelsea
Arsenal 		3 - 1 		Birmingham
Everton 		1 - 1 		Wolves
Man Utd 		2 - 1 		Bolton
Portsmouth 		1 - 2 		Tottenham
Stoke City 		2 - 1 		West Ham
Sunderland 		1 - 0 		Liverpool
Blackburn 		3 - 2 		Burnley
Wigan 			1 - 1 		Man City
Fulham 			2 - 0 		Hull City

Most memorable of all is Sunderland’s beach ball goal against Liverpool. The Reds may bitch and moan about that goal, but the fact remains that they still didnt manage to score against the Wearsiders for the remainder of the game. Chelsea’s slip-up at Aston Villa allowed Man Utd to regain the top spot, while Portsmouth remain rooted to the bottom. See the table here

Portsmouth 	0 - 1 		Everton
Birmingham 	1 - 2 		Bolton
Blackburn 	2 - 1 		Aston Villa
Liverpool 	6 - 1 		Hull City
Stoke City 	0 - 2 		Man Utd
Tottenham 	5 - 0 		Burnley
Wigan 		3 - 1 		Chelsea
Fulham 		0 - 1 		Arsenal
Sunderland 	5 - 2 		Wolves
Man City 	 V 		West Ham 	28 Sep 20:00

Congrats to Fernando Torres on a hatrick and also to Robbie Keane and a hatrick plus one. Is there a specific name for four goals?
Chelsea have finally dropped points and who would have thought they would first drop points at Wigan. And at the opposite end of the table, Portsmouth’s dismal 0% start continues. Pompeii have no have the worst top flight start to a season since 1930! The scores from Burnley’s away are in order: 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0. Burnley are away to Blackburn in 2 weeks time; will Rovers complete the sequence and make it 6-0?