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Frank Lampard has not yet confirmed that he intends to stay at Manchester City till the end of the English league campaign. The former Chelsea midfielder moved to New York City FC in the summer as one of the most high-profile arrivals for MLS. Since New York City will not be part of the MLS until the 2015 season, Lampard moved to City on a six-month loan spell in order to keep up his fitness levels. The 36-year-old has been a surprise success at Etihad stadium after managing to play a key role in the club’s title challenge.

The prospect of continuing to play with one of the top leagues around the world does seem to be appealing for the former England international. He has stated on to a football blogger several occasions that the possibility to extend the loan spell is not beyond him. Even City manager Manuel Pellegrini expressed his desire to keep Lampard beyond this current loan spell. Lampard is expected to return to New York City in the early weeks of February. He could potentially be an important player during January when midfielder Yaya Touré takes off to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Lampard’s agent has failed to confirm that his client will return to New York City in January. The player is currently injured and is expected to come back to the first-team shortly. “All I can say is how much I’m enjoying it at City. I’m contracted here until the end of December, and my future will be at New York City at some stage. All I can do now is go week by week and play as well as I can when I am playing to bring a good contribution,” said Lampard a few weeks ago. “Fingers crossed, if all goes well over the next couple of days, I’ll be back in contention (to play),” said Lampard about his injury situation.

Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted has said that he has to take some of the blame for the 2-1 defeat suffered at the hands of FC Dallas. The team was looking to build on the 2-0 win over San Jose Earthquakes that finally brought relief to the club, but this defeat means that the team is in danger of slipping out of the play-offs at the final leg. Vancouver currently occupy the final position that gives entry into the play-offs. They have only a single point advantage over Portland Timbers in the sixth place. Speaking after the defeat against Dallas, Ousted says that he is partly to blame for this result.

The club has had a tradition of conceding spectacular goals during the month of September and it has proven to be no different this time around. Jair Benitez’s outrageous attempt last season from inside the halfway line was not expected to go through, but it still stunned the entire home crowd. Many were left blaming Ousted for this goal. This time around, it was a much less awe-inspiring attempt from Blas Perez that flew into the net. The fact that it was from an improbable angle made it more special, but Ousted says that he could have done better to stop it.

“The first one is a fluke. [Perez] tries to hit a cross that suddenly swerves on me and goes in on a dime and a button. I’m annoyed with that. I could have moved my feet more and maybe gotten to that, but I think I reacted well afterward, some good saves. The second goal is on my shoulders. I shouldn’t have gone out there. [Perez] gets an easy tap-in. I should have stayed on my line. I tried to come out and help the guys, but it was too low for me,” said Ousted.

Houston Dynamo finally brought an end to the disastrous run of form that they have been experiencing in recent weeks after a 1-0 win over DC United. Houston came into the match with no victories since the 1-0 victory over Laredo Heat in the U.S. Open cup. A number of matches have finished either as defeats or draws. It has seen Houston Dynamo slip towards the bottom of the table. There now just one place above the bottom, which is occupied by Montréal Impact. They have played the same number of games as Montréal but the 22 points compared to the 14 points gives them some pride.

Houston have been recruiting a number of important players in the last few weeks. Luis Garrido and DaMarcus Beasley are some of the names that have come to Houston. Even though they have a number of players representing the US national team, Houston have struggled to make an impact in the MLS. Team captain Davis is hoping that this will now change in the forthcoming matches. He says that Houston Dynamo have enough quality in the ranks to be able to go on a winning spree. There is renewed confidence in the team and this is quite clear from the latest press conference given by Davis.

“It’s been the message that’s been sent for a while now. I don’t know why we would go out on the field without the utmost confidence. I think Sunday was a game for us to build off. There’s no reason for us now to step on the field and lower that level of play. When you also start to bring in competition for some spots it also raises some eyebrows. It gets competition going and some blood boiling. It’s always a good thing, competition in training, competitions for spots on the weekend,” said Davis.

Colorado Rapids’ season is in danger of petering out if they produce many more performances like the one that saw them dismantled by a New England Revolution side that had been in a dire run of form.

The Revolution had lost their previous eight matches but were far too good for a Rapids side that produced possibly their worst performance of the season.

New England had only scored four goals during their eight-match losing streak but Lee Nguyen scored with the aid of a deflection after only ten minutes to put Colorado on the back foot. Continue reading “Rapids need to bounce back from drubbing”

When did Crystal Palace last beat Arsenal? How many times did West Ham beat Tottenham last season? And, can Southampton beat Liverpool again this season?

If you haven’t got an answer to these questions then you need to check out Betfair’s preview of the Barclays Premier League’s forthcoming fixtures.

Lasting just 3 minutes and 52 seconds, but containing a wealth of useful information, this video is a great teaser for what promises to be another season of fantastic football action in the Premiership. Continue reading “Keep an Eye on the Premier League”