COVERITLIVE.COM

3:09

Welcome to Soccerlens' live coverage of the Final Day of the 2008-2009 English Premier League season! I'm Victor and I'll be your liveblogger!

It's been a great season and it's too bad that it has to come to an end. Who will stay up? Who will be playing in Europe next season? Should be an interesting day, to say the least.

3:13

I don't see what the big deal over Manchester United's team selection is. The way I figure it, Sir Alex has earned the right to play whoever he wants to play. It's Newcastle's and Middlesbrough's fault for being in their respective positions, after all. Why should Sir Alex bail them out. Plus, let's not write off Manchester United's youngsters. A team with the Da Silvas, Gibson, Possebon, Welbeck, Macheda, and possibly Fletcher (who should get the armband if he plays - that would be a nice gesture for him) could wipe the floor with Hull. Any of those guys would start for Hull in a heartbeat.

3:15	Although, I'm hearing that Sir Alex is going to go with Bryan Robson in midfield, an attack duo of Sir Bobby Charlton and Solskjaer, Stam in defense, and a newly signed Massimo Taibi in goal.

3:21

Liverpool v. Tottenham Lineups:

Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio, Mascherano, Alonso, Kuyt, Gerrard (c), Benayoun, Torres.
Subs: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Riera, Lucas, Insua, Ngog, Degen.

Tottenham: Gomes, Hutton, Corluka, King, Assou-Ekotto, Modric, Zokora, Jenas, Bale, Defoe, Keane (c).
Subs: Cudicini, Bentley, Pavlyuchenko, Bent, Gunter, Campbell, Chimbonda.

No start for Hyypia in his final appearance at the Kop. He'll probably get a nice little cameo at the end, though. It'll be interesting to see what kind of reception Keane gets. His reunion with his former mates should be awkward, to say the least. Bentley and Pavlyuchenko are on the bench for Tottenham, although I'd be shocked if either one of them got in the game.

3:27

Everton v. Fulham Lineups:

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu, Gera, Nevland, Kamara.
Subs: Zuberbuhler, Zamora, Dacourt, Gray, Stoor, Baird, Smalling.

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Neville, Cahill, Rodwell, Pienaar, Osman, Saha.
Subs: Nash, Castillo, Jo, Vaughan, Jacobsen, Fellaini, Gosling.
Referee: Mike Riley - Everton's new favorite ref

Everton will go with a somewhat weakened squad as they are clearly more focused on the F.A. Cup Final next weekend. That's great news for Fulham, who need a point to guarantee a place in the Europa League next season. As such, most of their big guns are playing today.

3:30

Aston Villa v. Newcastle Lineups:

Aston Villa: Friedel, Gardner, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Ashley Young, Carew, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Delfouneso, Knight, Heskey, Reo-Coker, Albrighton.

Newcastle: Harper, Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Edgar, Duff, Guthrie, Nolan, Butt, Lovenkrands, Viduka, Martins.
Subs: Krul, Jose Enrique, Owen, Smith, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Ryan Taylor.
Referee: Chris Foy

It's do or die for Newcastle. They can get out of the zone with a draw and a Hull loss, but their best bet is to win against a reeling Aston Villa side that has been in free fall for the last couple of months. They won't have Owen in the starting lineup, and Villa haven't done them any favors by starting most of their usual starters.

3:35

Sunderland v. Chelsea Lineups:

Sunderland: Fulop, Bardsley, Davenport, Ferdinand, Collins, Malbranque, Whitehead, Tainio, Leadbitter, Richardson, Jones.
Subs: Colgan, Edwards, Cisse, Murphy, Reid, Healy, McShane.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien, Mikel, Belletti, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka.
Subs: Hilario, Di Santo, Ballack, Sinclair, Kalou, Mancienne, Stoch.
Referee: Mark Halsey

Sunderland, another team that could be in danger of going down, won't get a break as Chelsea will trot out most of their first team. Could this be Didier Drogba's last EPL match in a Chelsea uniform?

3:44

... And now we get the lineup that we've been waiting for!

Hull City v. Manchester United

Hull: Myhill, Ricketts, Turner, Kilbane, Dawson, Garcia, Marney, Boateng, Barmby, Geovanni, Fagan.
Subs: Duke, Hughes, Mendy, Halmosi, Folan, Zayatte, Cousin.

Man Utd: Kuszczak, Rafael Da Silva, Neville, Brown, De Laet, Nani, Fletcher, Gibson, Welbeck, Martin, Macheda.
Subs: Amos, Tosic, Possebon, Eckersley, Corry Evans, Drinkwater, James.

Referee: Alan Wiley

Well, this will be a talking point either way, but it looks like Manchester United have followed through on their promises to field a reserve side. Only Fletcher, Neville, Nani, and Rafael will take part from the first-team. Looks like Fletcher won't get the armband after all since Neville is playing, which is too bad. That loud scream you heard just now was either from Gareth Southgate or Alan Shearer. Hard to tell.

3:49

West Ham v. Middlesbrough Lineup:

1540: West Ham v Middlesbrough line-ups

West Ham: Green, Spector, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Noble, Kovac, Collison, Boa Morte, Cole, Stanislas.
Subs: Lastuvka, Lopez, Dyer, Nsereko, Tristan, Di Michele, Payne.

Middlesbrough: Jones, McMahon, Wheater, Huth, Hoyte, O'Neil, Bates, Arca, Adam Johnson, Sanli, Emnes.
Subs: Turnbull, Shawky, Bennett, Franks, Williams, Grounds, Walker.

Referee: Howard Webb

Everyone thinks Middlesbrough is dead meat, and it's hard to argue. That's a pretty bad lineup by anyone's standards. American Jonathan Spector starts for West Ham. Just wanted to point that out.

3:52	I've got to say that I'm a little disappointed in Rafa that he didn't give Hyypia the start. What's he got to lose by giving Hyypia one last start? He's earned it.

3:53	Also, Arbeloa has been left out completely after his bust-up with Carragher last weekend. Hmm...

3:53

Arsenal v. Stoke Lineups:

Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Toure, Song Billong, Gibbs, Diaby, Fabregas, Denilson, Arshavin, van Persie, Walcott.
Subs: Szczesny, Vela, Ramsey, Silvestre, Djourou, Bendtner, Eboue.

Stoke: Simonsen, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Dickinson, Lawrence, Diao, Whelan, Delap, Beattie, Fuller.
Subs: Sorensen, Olofinjana, Cresswell, Pugh, Kelly, Tonge, Sonko.

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Eh...

3:58	Logistic wise, I'm watching the Hull/Manchester United match and the Villa/Newcastle match. I'll also be chatting about other matches and will try and post stuff as it happens.

4:00	[Comment From simon to] Sami Hyypia should have been given the start with an armband.

4:01	Agreed. Very classless move from Rafa.

4:03	Nicky Butt is the captain for Newcastle today. We'll see if he can bring his Manchester United karma to the Magpies today.

4:03	Not sure if that would be good or bad for Newcastle, actually.

4:05	2' - Agbonlahor beats Collocini into the box and he nearly has a chance inside the Newcastle box. He's called for a foul, but that should serve as Newcastle's wakeup call

4:06	3' - Or maybe this will do the trick. Young gets deep down the left flank and he lifts a great cross to the far post where Agbonlahor gets a free header on goal that goes just over the bar. Not a good start for Newcastle.

4:08	4' - Milner picks Colloccini's pocket (who has been abysmal this season), and the "defender" gets booked for a foul down the right wing.

Page 1 Next >