TUESDAY UPDATE: Whatever you think about the penalty which gave Liverpool a 2-2 draw with Birmingham, it certainly made a difference to our prediction league.

Miles Evans got a full five points for correctly predicting that score while he was even more pleased that John Terry ignored some newspaper headlines and secured a 1-0 win for Chelsea over Manchester United.

That game was our double pointer for the weekend so Miles received 10 points and finished as our top scorer for the weekend with 16 overall to jump into fifth place.

One of our contributors, Sean, did even better because he even specified that Terry would grab the only goal with a header. Where’s your crystal ball, Sean? I desperately need it! Have an extra five points.

Here are the updated scores for the Reuters Soccer Blog panel. Please let us know how you did in the comments.

Reuters Soccer Blog panel: Patrick Johnston 117, Paul Radford 102, Mitch Phillips 93, Mike Collett 88, Miles Evans 86, Simon Evans 85, Kevin Fylan 78, Mark Meadows 77, Julien Pretot 74, Neil Maidment 67, Asia Sports Desk 55, Justin Palmer 38, Martyn Herman 28, Sonia Oxley 26    

Mark Meadows
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LAST WEEK’S POST: Where would we be without Fridays and the chance to show the world just how much you know about football? Well, you’ll find out next weekend because it’s the international break, so please, make the most of it today.

Reuters Soccer Blog had a pretty good week last week, as we ran riot with a series of excellent scores. Not me, though. I think I managed five, and I’m falling back into mid-table mediocrity faster than you can say Rafa Benitez and Andriy Voronin.

To briefly recap: have a go at picking the score for this weekend’s matches in England’s Premier League. You get a point for every correct result, but make that five points if you get the score spot on. We’re doing so badly as a panel that you can join in any time and be sure of catching us up within a few weeks. Don’t be shy!

Here’s the way we stand at the moment:

Reuters Soccer Blog panel: Patrick Johnston 105, Mitch Phillips 89, Paul Radford 87, Mike Collett 76, Simon Evans 74, Mark Meadows 72, Kevin Fylan 71, Miles Evans 70, Julien Pretot 69, Neil Maidment 62, Asia Sports Desk 53, Justin Palmer 38, Martyn Herman 20, Sonia Oxley 10 (plus belated bonus from last week, =15)

Fraid I’ve lost count of the Rest of the World scores but please let me know where you stand. And don’t forget to add in your score from Wednesday…

One final thing: Double points this week on Chelsea v Man Utd, and bonus points available for predicting goals from the Drogmeister or Berbatov. You can lose points as well, though… so think carefully!

SATURDAY:

Aston Villa v Bolton: Patrick Johnston 3-1, Mitch Phillips 3-1, Paul Radford 3-1, Mike Collett 2-0, Simon Evans 2-0, Mark Meadows 2-1, Kevin Fylan 1-1, Miles Evans 2-2, Julien Pretot 2-1, Neil Maidment 2-1, Asia Sports Desk 2-0, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 2-0, Sonia Oxley 1-0

Blackburn v Portsmouth: Patrick Johnston 2-1, Mitch Phillips 2-0, Paul Radford 2-0, Mike Collett 1-2, Simon Evans 0-0, Mark Meadows 1-1, Kevin Fylan 1-2, Miles Evans 1-3, Julien Pretot 2-2, Neil Maidment 1-3, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 1-2, Sonia Oxley 1-2

Man City v Burnley: Patrick Johnston 3-0, Mitch Phillips 2-0, Paul Radford 4-0, Mike Collett 2-1, Simon Evans 2-2, Mark Meadows 2-0, Kevin Fylan 4-1, Miles Evans 3-1, Julien Pretot 2-0, Neil Maidment 3-1, Asia Sports Desk 3-1, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 4-1, Sonia Oxley 3-1

Spurs v Sunderland: Patrick Johnston 1-2, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Paul Radford 1-1, Mike Collett 1-1, Simon Evans 3-1, Mark Meadows 3-2, Kevin Fylan 3-0, Miles Evans 1-1, Julien Pretot 2-1, Neil Maidment 2-1, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 2-1, Sonia Oxley 2-1

Wolves v Arsenal: Patrick Johnston 1-4, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Paul Radford 1-3, Mike Collett 1-3, Simon Evans 1-2, Mark Meadows 0-3, Kevin Fylan 0-3, Miles Evans 1-2, Julien Pretot 0-2, Neil Maidment 0-4, Asia Sports Desk 0-2, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 1-4, Sonia Oxley 1-3

SUNDAY:

Chelsea v Man Utd: Patrick Johnston 1-1, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Paul Radford 2-0, Mike Collett 1-0, Simon Evans 3-2, Mark Meadows 2-0, Kevin Fylan 2-2 (one for Drog, one for Berba), Miles Evans 1-0, Julien Pretot 2-1, Neil Maidment 2-0, Asia Sports Desk 2-2, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 1-1, Sonia Oxley 2-1 (two goals for Drogba)

Hull v Stoke: Patrick Johnston 1-2, Mitch Phillips 1-0, Paul Radford 1-1, Mike Collett 0-2, Simon Evans 2-2, Mark Meadows 0-0, Kevin Fylan 1-2, Miles Evans 1-2, Julien Pretot 1-1, Neil Maidment 0-1, Asia Sports Desk 0-1, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 0-2, Sonia Oxley 2-0

West Ham v Everton: Patrick Johnston 1-2, Mitch Phillips 2-1, Paul Radford 1-2, Mike Collett 1-1, Simon Evans 3-1, Mark Meadows 2-1, Kevin Fylan 1-2, Miles Evans 2-0, Julien Pretot 1-1, Neil Maidment 2-1, Asia Sports Desk 1-1, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 2-3, Sonia Oxley 2-2

Wigan v Fulham: Patrick Johnston 2-1, Mitch Phillips 0-1, Paul Radford 1-1, Mike Collett 0-1, Simon Evans 1-1, Mark Meadows 0-1, Kevin Fylan 1-0, Miles Evans 2-0, Julien Pretot 0-1, Neil Maidment 1-2, Asia Sports Desk 2-0, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 2-0, Sonia Oxley 1-1

MONDAY:

Liverpool v Birmingham: Patrick Johnston 2-0, Mitch Phillips 1-1, Paul Radford 3-0, Mike Collett 3-0, Simon Evans 4-1, Mark Meadows 1-0, Kevin Fylan 4-0, Miles Evans 2-2, Julien Pretot 3-1, Neil Maidment 2-0, Asia Sports Desk 2-0, Justin Palmer , Martyn Herman 2-1, Sonia Oxley 4-0

PHOTO: Dirk Kuyt tots up his points during the Champions League draw with Olympique Lyon at the Gerland stadium in Lyon, November 4, 2009. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool has again exposed the chinks in the Premier League champions’ armour, notably their defensive frailties against top level opposition.

While United overcame Rio Ferdinand’s howler in a 4-3 win over City in the Manchester derby, the England centre back’s lack of pace and cutting edge cost Alex Ferguson’s side dearly against Liverpool.

The ease with which a half-fit Fernando Torres got away from Ferdinand to score Liverpool’s opening goal will have raised not only Ferguson’s eyebrows, but also given Fabio Capello a headache.

Is Ferdinand, who has looked completely at sea in the heart of United’s defence this season and had a nightmare of a game in England’s 1-0 defeat by Ukraine, going through just a temporary loss of form or are his best days behind him?

Ferguson has no world class cover for Ferdinand in his squad and his decision to let Gerard Pique return to Barcelona after United’s 2008 Champions League triumph might come back to haunt him. That is if it hasn’t already…Pique stopped United from taking the lead in the 2009 final while Ferdinand was at fault for Barcelona’s second goal in the 2-0 defeat by the Spanish champions.

England’s potential rivals in the 2010 World Cup will also be rubbing their hands over Ferdinand becoming a liability and while Capello must hope he rediscovers his form, the Italian might also want to consider an alternative partner to John Terry in the centre of England’s defence.

PHOTO: Liverpool’s Fernando Torres (front) outmuscles Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand to score during their English Premier League match at Anfield, Oct 25, 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

Here’s a question for you: Who is Manchester United’s official club captain?

The hullabaloo surrounding the England cricket skipper has shown how different the role is in the two sports.

I think Gary Neville is actually the club captain at United, but to be honest I’m not sure. He has been injured for most of the last two years so Ryan Giggs took over.

The Welshman is in and out of the team, though, so Rio Ferdinand has donned the armband the most recently. (The pair lifted the Champions League trophy in May, see right, with poor Gary left on the sidelines).

Let’s face it, it doesn’t really matter who the captain is on the football field. Technical areas are so large now that coaches can bark the orders and leave centre backs, traditionally the obvious skippers, to the defending.

In Spain, clubs often have several club captains and in Italy it generally goes to the most-experienced player.

Paolo Maldini, 40, is club captain at AC Milan but plays once every three games. If the captain was that important, wouldn’t they appoint one who played every game?

At Euro 2008 after Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out through injury, the Italy captaincy switched between Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon depending on whether Del Piero was picked or not. In this case, the situation made Italy’s bungling performances worse and is perhaps an instance where one clear skipper was needed.

In cricket, the captain is all-important given he decides field placings, bowling changes, declarations etc.

As we have seen with Kevin Pietersen’s demise, the way a captain conducts himself off the field with management is equally important.

Maybe football has learnt from this too. A club captain can be the bridge between the team and the coach but that doesn’t mean he has to be on the field.

PHOTO: Manchester United players Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Ryan Giggs and Tomasz Kuszczak celebrate with the Champions League trophy after defeating Chelsea in the final at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow May 22, 2008. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

England have made their best start to a World Cup qualifying campaign and Wayne Rooney thinks he’s playing at his best, so why haven’t Fabio Capello’s men been bragging about how they’re going to bring home the trophy in 2010?

What has been striking about the Capello era is a new sense of humility and realism that England players had long lacked.

Frank Lampard finally admitted last week that he and Steven Gerrard had failed to reproduce their club form when playing for England.

Rio Ferdinand said this week that the national team set-up had been like a circus until Capello’s arrival and that players had been obsessed by their celebrity lifestyles. (more…)

Supporters are in the firing line after incidents at this weekend’s World Cup qualifiers.

England fans were criticised by coach Fabio Capello and stand-in captain Rio Ferdinand for booing Ashley Cole after his mistake led to a goal in the 5-1 win over Kazakhstan. 

Wembley supporters have a habit of booing their own team in recent times and Capello was at least grateful they gave his side a reasonably easy ride in a goalless first half.

But with tickets costing a lot in these troubled financial times, do fans have the right to boo if the standard is not up to scratch? (more…)

Fabio Capello has named John Terry as captain for England’s friendly against the United States on Wednesday, which may be some slim consolation for that penalty miss in the Champions League final.

Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard have previously held the captaincy under Capello. who will presumably make a decision on who gets the job on a long-term basis before England start their qualifying campaign for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Owen Wyatt was at Capello’s news conference this morning and he’d like your views on who the Italian should go for. Personally, I’m beginning to think Owen Hargreaves might be the man for the job — he can take a mean penalty, at least — but I’m sure you’ll have plenty of other ideas. Let us know in the comments, or with a video blog of your own.