My ramblings return to dissect a Saturday of thrills, spills and unpredictable hat-tricks and a Sunday of attritious “big games” that delivered more bookings than goals. Lawrenson was right and that can never be a good thing.

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David Bentley hit a sweet volley to send Blackburn on their way to a 2-0 second leg UEFA Cup win over MyPa tonight. The midfielder smashed home the opener from a corss by Gamst-Pedersen , while Jason Roberts capped the night with a second from Matt Derbyshire’s knock down late on.

Mark Hughes rotated things bringing in Roberts and Rigters up front and Mokoena and Tugay in midfield. Interestingly he opted for a Nelson/Ooijer pairing in central defence which maybe hints that Samba’s place is now under threat or at least subject to rotation. Samba wasn’t even on the bench but there was no news of an injury on the night. McCarthy, Santa Cruz, Savage and Dunn should all return for the visit of City at the weekend however.

Three more Carling Cup ties were played out last night as the Premiership big boys all eased their way through. Arsenal meanwhile, cruised past the Spartans from Prague. Here’s my notes on the nights events…

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It was Carling Cup action for some clubs tonight with some red faces amongst the Premiership “elite”. Liverpool meanwhile put some reserves out for a Champions League something or other. Read my notes from tonights games…

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Spurs looked typically brittle in defence and, more significantly, out of ideas in attack, as they went down 3-1 at home to Everton tonight. Goals from Lescott, Osman and a deflected Stubbs free-kick won the game for Moyes’ men, with Gardner giving Spurs brief hope with an equaliser in the first-half. However, they were always second best, with a performance that once again demonstrated a lack of creativity and confidence. Darren Bent failed to make an impression on his debut, while Berbatov showed flashes, including a smart header that struck a post in the second-half but Everton’s midfield always looked in control, whilst the organisation of their defence snuffed out the majority of Spurs’ attacking ambitions. To make matters worse, Jol’s injury-hit defence lost new signing Kaboul to injury early in the first-half.

Arteta was as usual, instrumental in most of Everton’s creative work, including two of their goals. Osman meanwhile, seems to be filling the void left by Cahill’s injury rather nicely with 2 goals in 2 games. At the back Lescott and Stubbs stood out and their goals further boosted their appeal to Fantasy Managers. In contrast, their form is likely to keep both Baines and Jagielka on the bench for a few weeks to come which will see their Fantasy stock fall. As a sidenote, Andy Johnson also looked sharp and is sure to get off the mark very soon.

Spurs now face Derby at the Lane on Saturday in a must-win scenario. Everton meanwhile, visit Reading and will be full of confidence. They have Blackburn and Bolton to follow after the Reading game and then United at home in mid-September. Spurs meanwhile will face both United, Fulham and North London rivals Arsenal, following the Derby game, which only emphasises the importance of this weekend’s game for Jol’s side. They will hope to have Michael Dawson back in their defence after he failed a fitness test on his ankle injury tonight. Without him, Derby, and in particular Steve Howard, will fancy their chances.

The final friendly matches were played out yesterday and tonight with Villa stuttering at Walsall, while tonight, United split their squad to visit Dunfermline and Glentoran without Carlos Tevez but with Paul Scholes. Get the teams, scorers and all the details here…

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Liverpool rescue a draw in Rotterdam but miss out on the trophy. Alan Smith meanwhile, has a dream start in front of his new adoring fans as Newcastle sneak past Sampdoria. Get the scores, scorers and lineups here…

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United overcome the challenge of Jose’s Chelsea on penalties then, with Van der Sar making the saves in the shootout to allow Rooney to seal the silverware in front of the Wembley crowd. Earlier Giggs had given United the the lead, steering an Evra pass into Cech’s top corner. Soon after Chelsea were level, Ashley Cole feeding the ball over the United defence for new signing Malouda to muscle his way through and tuck past Van der Sar. For Fantasy Managers however, there was much more to consider than just the result.

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There was a huge programme of friendlies today, the final pre-season games for most sides and therefore the best indication yet of just what those Premiership managers have in mind for their lineups for the season kick-off. You’ll find all the results, scorers, lineups and analysis of all today’s games, right here…

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Just a couple of games last night which saw a goal for Torres and a defeat for Fulham. I wonder which one of those will be more frequent this season? Get the scorers, lineups and other stuff here…

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There were more than a few friendlies played on Wednesday night including a United defat to Inter and a 7-0 hammering inflicted by Portsmouth. Sadly my ISP’s performance left a lot to be desired on the night which meant I couldn’t update you on all the details. Tonight though, they’re back on form to allow me to bring you all the details of these games, plus Arsenal’s victory over Lazio earlier today. Get the belated goodness here…

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There were plenty of Premiership sides in friendly action tonight and all of them seemed to have come out of it unscathed, although in the case of Everton, only just. Get the results, scorers, lineups and other rambles here…

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Sunderland continue to struggle for goals in pre-season, having been held 1-1 by Cork City in last night’s only friendly involving Premiership clubs. Liam Miller scored the goal that saved Keane’s blushes as Stern John missed a hatful of chances before Cork took the lead after 56 mintues. Miller struck the equaliser with 15 minutes remaining but Sunderland could not force a winner. Keane handed new signing Russell Anderson a debut at centre-back alongside Collins and played youngster Michael Kay at left-back.

Sunderland Lineup: Ward, Halford, Collins, Anderson, Kay, Miller, Whitehead, Yorke (Chopra 82), Leadbitter (Richardson 62), John (Murphy 62), Connolly (Stokes 62).

Arsenal grab some early season silverware and Newcastle find a home-grown hero as two Italian giants are sent packing. Get the scores, goals, lineups and other details here…

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