Arsenal suffered its heaviest defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 3-0 to Manchester City and sending the club into a tailspin in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s 5th defeat in the Premiership this season has erased any hopes the Gunners may have had of taking the league title this season. Arsenal is currently 10 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool and Chelsea.

“We have a good attitude and a good spirit,” Arsenal manager Wenger said. “We are going through a difficult period because of the bad results but I don’t think there is anything deeper in the team.”

While Wenger was philosophical about his team’s defeat, the poor performance seemed to vindicate the sentiments expressed by William Gallas earlier in the week, with the Arsenal striker accusing his teammates of lacking fighting spirit.

“We did fight very hard and gave absolutely everything,” Wenger concluded. “I believe in this team and in this squad and we just have to not talk. We have to keep our belief, be united and work together.”

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has suggested that his club won’t be vacating the upper end of the Premier League any time soon, as he intends to bolster his squad with a crop of world class players when the transfer window re-opens in January.

Aston Villa is currently flying high in the Premiership, and is presently ranked 5th on the league table, with only points difference separating the club from 4th-placed Arsenal.

O’Neill believes that his club is seeing the benefits of big spending during the off-season transfer window, but that further reinforcements will need to be brought into the fold in the months ahead - if Aston Villa wishes to maintain pressure on the bigger clubs.

“We will be trying to bring in players in the window,” O’Neill told Gola.com. “We are looking to improve the depth and quality of the squad.”

Amongst the players on O’Neill’s wish-list are Emile Heskey, currently plying his trade at Wigan, and Standard Liege midfield Steven Defour.

Aston Villa will be facing its next big test in the Premier League this Saturday, when the club hosts Manchester United at Villa Park. A victory by Villa could prove that the club has finally arrived in the top flight of English football.

England are on top of the world after defeating Germany in an international friendly in Berlin last night.

The English scored first through defender Matthew Upson, and took the lead into half-time. However, a defensive mix-up in the second half saw German striker Patrick Helmes equalise.

It was the English who had the last word, as Johny Terry headed home his side’s second goal 6 minutes from time, handing Fabio Capello his biggest victory as England manager.

“I said when I started the job it is important that we got our confidence back and I think we are on the right path,” Capello said after watching his side defeat the Euro 2008 runners-up. “The players knew what I wanted them to do and they did exactly that, they played with a lot of confidence.”

The English will take encouragement from the fact that they were able to defend one of Europe’s most powerful national teams whilst fielding a line-up feature several second-string players. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were all absent due to injury.

“There is no message to the players who were missing,” Capello concluded. “I am just happy with both the victory and the performance.”

Aston Villa produced a stunning upset in the Premier League on Saturday, defeating Arsenal for the first time in a decade.

Arsenal’s Gael Clichy scored first to break a 70 minute deadlock, finding the back of his own net to give Aston Villa a 1-0 lead. Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor then closed out the Gunners with a second goal minutes from time.

Aston Villa’s first win over Arsenal since December 13th 1998 sees them move level with the Gunners on points in the Premier League table with both teams on 23 points. Arsenal is ahead in the league on goal difference, behind Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

“I thought we were exhilarating,” Villa manager Martin O’Neill told reporters after the match. “I thought we started off superbly in the game and took the game to Arsenal. I thought we were just a joy to watch.”

“Mark my words, we have ability in the team,” O’Neill continued. “It’s really getting them to absolutely believe it, that they can do this, that they can keep going and that they can be strong and that they should just push disappointment to the side and get on with it.”

Tottenham Hotspur continued their impressive revival on Wednesday evening, defeating Liverpool 4-2 to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.

Roman Pavlyuchenko and Frazier Campbell scored goals for the Spurs as they surged into a 3 goal lead, before Liverpool launched their customary comeback attempt, pulling back 2 goals through Damien Plessis and Sami Hyypia.

However, it was not to be for Liverpool, as Roman Pavlyuchenko interrupted the Reds’ scoring to bet his second goal and boost his club into the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.

“It was a good win and a good performance - even if we could have done better on corners,” Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said after the match. “In all seriousness… I’ve been so pleased with the players. They have tremendous quality and want to win every game - the desire is brilliant.”

Liverpool, meanwhile, found few positives to take from the game, with only Ryan Babel showing any sort of urgency or flair on the night.

“We did not play well, we did not defend well, and we did not deserve anything from the game,” Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez said after the game. “In the second half we were a little better, in commitment and in our quality, but after the first half it was impossible.”

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has comitted himself to giving his gifted young Carling Cup team the opportunity to go all the way in the tournament.

The ‘young Gunners’ prodiced their second consecutive comprehensive victory in the Carling Cup last night, taking Wigan Athelic’s scalp in a decisive 3-0 victory that saw Jay Simpson score twice and Carlos Vela score his side’s remaining goal.

The Carling Cup side, averaging 19 yeas in age, earned a place in the quarterfinals of the knockout tournament with their impressive display of attacking football, and are favourites to go all the way having taking 9 goals from their last 2 games.

“From the first to the last minute we looked really up for it. We had a relentless go. In the end it was a fantastic win,” Wenger said after the match. “These boys they surprise everybody because there is a mixture of character, commitment and calm as well.”

“They were frightening on the night,” Wigan boss Steve Bruce agreed. “The age of them. Arsene says it is the best crop of youngsters he’s had and when you think of the young players they have had in the past, that is some compliment.”

Arsenal’s Samir Nasri helped his side put together arguably their finest performance of the season on Saturday by scoring twice in the Gunner’s brilliant 2-1 defeat of Manchester United in the Premier League.

Just a week after losing to Stoke in the Premiership, and days after failing to score against Fenerbahce in the Champions League, Arsenal produced the goods when it counted. The win saw the Gunners climb to third place on the Premier League table.

Despite missing key players Emmanuel Adebayor and Robert van Persi, Arsenal played with rare cohesion, and held off a powerful Manchester United attack until late in the match when Rafael da Silva pulled a goal back for the Red Devils.

“This was a very important result. I imagine what would have happened if we had lost,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after the match. “Mathematically it is very important to stay close to the top and to show what kind of determination and spirit we have.”

Meanwhile Sir Alex Ferguson took out his frustration at his side’s loss on the referee, singling out the ref’s failure to penalise Gael Clichy for handball in the first half as the turning point of the match.

“I think we probably deserved something from the game,” Ferguson said after the match. “We gave away a bad second goal and in the main our team performance was very good.”

Arsene Wenger has suggested that referees and match officials are conspiring to destroy his club’s title prospects at home and in Europe following the Gunner’s 0-0 draw against Fenerbahce in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Wenger’s side is presently going through a rough patch, having lost to Stoke City on the weekend, before failing to score against Fenerbahce at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“Look at the team that makes less fouls - it is Arsenal,” Wenger told the Time Online. “Who gets the more yellow cards after four or five fouls? Arsenal. Some teams get their first yellow card after 15 fouls. I cannot read the book or something is wrong.”

Wenger first suggested that his side were getting a raw deal after Arsenal went down to Stoke on the weekend, claiming that the referee had turned a blind eye to some unacceptably rough play by the Stoke players.

“I wasn’t happy with some tackles and wanted to say that you don’t have to be brave to tackle from behind,” Wenger continued. “The brave one is the guy who tries to play football. Why should I regret that? I maintain that strongly. It is not bitterness after a defeat.”

Arsenal is scheduled to play Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Bolton Wanderers escaped from the Premier League’s relegation zone on Sunday, defeating Manchester City 2-0 at Burden Way.

Jamaican import Ricardo Gardner scored first for Bolton in the Premier League match, converting a cross for his first goal in the Premiership in six years. Manchester City captain Richard Dunne then guaranteed his sides’s defeat by scoring an own goal 2 minutes from time.

“It’s very important for us,” Gardner said after the match. “We can gain confidence from this and we can do even better in our next game than we did today. It’s been a long time, but I’m just glad for the lads. We thoroughly deserved it.”

The result of Sunday’s Premiership match saw Bolton switch places with West Bromwich Albion as the latter moved into the relegation zone, joining an uoward-bound Tottenham Hotspur and last-placed Newcastle.

Other action on Sunday saw Arsenal suffer yet another loss to a low ranked team, as lowly Stoke defeated the Premiership heavyweights 2-1 at home. The result saw Arsenal drop to 4th place in the Premier League, behind Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham Hotspur produced one of the biggest upsets of the Premiership season yesterday, defeating league leaders Liverpool 2-1 in injury time.

Liverpool looked to be cruising after Dirk Kuyt’s score in the first half, however a costly own goal by Jamie Carragher allowed Spurs back into the game, with Roman Pavlyuchenko snatching the win with a superb goal on 90 minutes.

“We hung in there,” Redknapp told Setanta Sports. “Once we got a goal back, we were banging it. It was a fantastic job in the end to beat a fine Liverpool team.”

Saturday’s result was Spurs second comeback against a Premier League heavyweight this week, after the club scored two late goals to draw 4-4 with Arsenal on Tuesday.

“I think he’s come in an instilled a lot of confidence,” Tottenham’s David Bentley said of Redknapp’s Midas touch. “We’re going out there as a team now. We’re playing as a unit. It’s brilliant.”

Liverpool’s loss saw them lose the top spot on the league table to Chelsea, who reclaimed the points lead with a 5-0 thrashing of Sunderland.