MARK CLATTENBURG has been left off the list of refereeing appointments for next weekend’s Premier League fixtures but neither the league nor his own governing body will confirm it is as a result of his performance in the Merseyside derby last Saturday.

ARSENAL skipper William Gallas expects nothing less than silverware this season — and insists there is every chance of going one better in the Champions League than he did with Chelsea.

EDWIN VAN DER SAR is relishing Manchester United’s latest foray into Eastern Europe.

ALEX FERGUSON is backing his fallen stars to recover from their international disappointments by firing Manchester United to victory at Aston Villa today.

ARSENAL could be without leading scorer Robin van Persie for a month after the Holland striker suffered a knee injury on international duty.

GROUNDED ROBIN: Striker Robin van Persie could be out for a month through injury and miss games with Slavia Prague, Liverpool and Manchester United.

ON a human level, you had to feel for Steve Staunton on Wednesday night.

CELTIC manager Gordon Strachan called for perspective as he insisted the Parkhead side’s dreadful away record in the Champions League is improving.

SEVILLA showed they are in fine shape ahead of Wednesday’s tough Champions League match against Arsenal with an impressive 4-1 home win over Recreativo Huelva last night.

MANCHESTER UNITED defender Mikael Silvestre has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Everton.

AT the start of his second day in the witness box, the Taoiseach expressed surprise at the extensive trawl of his financial affairs which arose from an order for discovery of documents by the tribunal.

RAFAEL BENITEZ has warned Liverpool’s club record signing Fernando Torres that life in the Premier League will not always be as easy as this.

NORTHERN IRELAND winger Keith Gillespie has apologised for being involved in a punch-up with a team-mate on a flight home from Iceland.

SOMEWHERE in the hills of Los Angeles, David Beckham must be wondering if he will ever play for England again.

JOSE MOURINHO has challenged his players to return from international duty and focus their minds on winning back the Premier League title.

FORMER Manchester United and Ireland star Denis Irwin may have brought good news for the country’s sports shops yesterday — but his evening’s work also heralded pressure for parents of soccer-mad youngsters.

BOBBY CHARLTON cannot wait for the opportunity to acclaim Ryan Giggs for snatching his Manchester United appearance record.

LIVERPOOL and Manchester United have formally declared their opposition to UEFA president Michel Platini’s plans for domestic cup winners to qualify for the Champions League.

ARSENAL chairman Peter Hill-Wood insists suggestions the club need a billionaire backer are “lunacy”.

CARLOS TEVEZ cannot wait to launch his Manchester United strike partnership with Wayne Rooney.