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Nasri surgery blow for Arsenal

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 19/08/2010
Football betting

Arsenal's France international midfielder Samir Nasri will be out for action for around one month following knee surgery.

Nasri played the full 90 minutes of Sunday's season opening 1-1 draw with Liverpool but picked up a minor knee ligament injury at Anfield.

The timing of the injury comes as a real blow to manager Arsene Wenger as Nasri had been in impressive form during pre-season.

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Meanwhile, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp claimed Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Young Boys in the first leg of a Champions League play-off was a 'great defeat'.

Spurs were shocked by the Swiss outfit in the opening exchanges as they cruised into a 3-0 lead.

But Sebastian Bassong's header just before the interval and Roman Pavlyuchenko's stunning drive in the closing stages kept the tie alive ahead of the return leg at White Hart Lane.

"It was a great defeat - if there's such a thing," said Redknapp, who admitted his players struggled to cope with the artificial pitch at the Neufeldstadion.

"At 3-0 down, we were staring down the barrel. We were in desperate trouble. We were all over the show."

Nicolas Anelka has laughed off the 18-match suspension from the French national team which has effectively ended his international career.

The Chelsea striker was handed the punishment by the French Football Federation on Tuesday following his conduct at the recent World Cup in South Africa.

The 31-year-old was sent home from a tournament in which Les Bleus failed to win a game following a row with coach Raymond Domenech.

Defender Martin Skrtel is the latest Liverpool player to pledge his future to the club by signing a new contract.

The Slovakia defender has penned a two-year extension which ties him to the Anfield club until summer 2014.

New Zealand rugby union coach Graham Henry has made two changes to his sportsbook favourite team for Saturday's Tri-Nations clash with South Africa.

Henry has handed staring places to scrum-half Jimmy Cowan and prop Ben Franks for the game that will take place at the FNB Stadium.

Cowan replaces Piri Weepu at number nine while Franks wins out ahead of his brother Owen.

Meanwhile, Francois Hougaard will start at scrum half for the Springboks.

The All Blacks are on the cusp of winning the title but the Springboks have handed the responsibility of the number nine shirt to the Blue Bulls utility back Hougaard as Ruan Pienaar is injured.

Meanwhile, captain John Smit will be featuring in his 100th Test game, only the second player after Percy Montgomery to achieve the feat.

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