MANCHESTER UNITED’S Saudi adventure ended in defeat last night as a missed injury-time penalty by teenager Danny Welbeck, combined with some rather unusual refereeing, secured a 3-2 victory for Al Hilal in Riyadh.

LEE CARSLEY insists unfancied Everton can inflict more misery on Merseyside rivals Liverpool by again snatching fourth place in the Premier League.

TITUS BRAMBLE added another horrific defensive error to his lengthy CV as Everton clinically ground out a third straight Premiership win to add even more weight to David Moyes’ claims that his team can last the course in the race for fourth place.

ANFIELD will echo to the sounds of mutiny tonight as Liverpool’s fans re-enforce their displeasure about the way their club is being run, although resurgent Aston Villa could yet re-focus attention to the Reds’ other major headache.

MANCHESTER UNITED’S resolve to emulate the heroes of 1999 by winning a second Treble has been strengthened by their progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and — Rafa Benitez will be fascinated to hear — by the use of squad rotation.

JAMIE MCCOMBE continued his remarkable goalscoring run for Bristol City to help his side extend their lead at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship after a 1-1 draw at Charlton last night.

AVRAM Grant has highlighted the Champions League as a priority for Chelsea and he could not find the word to describe what failure against Olympiacos would mean.

IF EVER there was a time for Arsene Wenger to prove that he is a great football manager then it is when Arsenal run out against AC Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League tonight.

LYON MANAGER Alain Perrin believes star striker Karim Benzema can light up Old Trafford tonight.

THE Champions League kicks off again this week with each team aware that this round of 16 provides more shocks than the rest of the tournament combined.

AVRAM GRANT, if in reflective mood this morning, may well suggest his gamble to launch an attack on the English media has paid quite spectacular dividends.

THERE is a general consensus sweeping the insular world of Premier League football that Newcastle United are just too good to go down.

SAINT Stephen’s Day 1962.

YOU might have noticed that a pop star of yesteryear died the other day.

ROY KEANE today returns to the scene of his managerial debut with a confession that he was guilty of a major gaffe when he delivered his opening team-talk.

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Alex Ferguson has dismissed claims that he has attempted to unsettle the Lyon striker Karim Benzema.

ALEX FERGUSON has described Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring rate as “phenomenal” as the Manchester United winger attempts to break the 30-goal mark in all club competitions.

TOTTENHAM defender Alan Hutton has described how Eduardo’s injury this week reminded him of his own double leg break when he took a season after returning to fully recover.

NO SURPRISES when it comes to the issue which dominated water-cooler talk for the last few days. Anyone who saw Eduardo’s horrific leg-break in the Arsenal-Birmingham City game last week in the Premier League last week isn’t likely to forget it in a hurry.

ALEX FERGUSON has admitted he considered working abroad but the appeal of Manchester United proved too strong.