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General Sports News

Reds and Chelsea meet again

Author: Rose Young
Date: 20/03/2009

Chelsea and Liverpool will go head-to-head in Europe for the fifth successive season following the draw for the latter stages of the Champions League, with online betting experts split over the outcome.

The two Premier League rivals are no strangers to one another following a series of previous meetings in the knockout stages of the continental competition and will again lock horns in the quarter-finals following the draw in Nyon, Switzerland.

Elsewhere, European champions Manchester United will take on FC Porto in the last eight.

Arsenal have been paired against Villarreal in the quarter-finals with the winners facing either Manchester United or FC Porto in the semis.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Liverpool versus Chelsea tie will face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the last-four stage after the Spanish and German champions made up the draw for the quarter-finals.

In the UEFA Cup, Manchester City have been paired with Hamburg following the draw for the quarter-finals.

City, who survived a dramatic fightback from Aalborg on Thursday night to be in the hat for the draw, will travel to Germany for the first leg against the Bundesliga side on April 6.

Should City overcome Hamburg then they could be returning to Germany to play Werder Bremen as the draw for the semi-finals was made at the same time.

In domestic football, Arsenal forward Theo Walcott is expected to be ruled out of the England Under-21 squad for their forthcoming double header after injuring his knee during training on Friday.

The 20-year-old has only just returned to action following four months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

Tottenham Hotspur have ended the speculation surrounding the future of Aaron Lennon after agreeing a new long-term contract with the winger.

The England international has been linked with a summer move to Liverpool following an impressive season at White Hart Lane but has pledged his future to the north London club until 2014.

Former England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen is unsure whether he would take on the role again.

Pietersen replaced Michael Vaughan as skipper last summer only to be ousted just over ten weeks ago after falling out with then-coach Peter Moores.

Meanwhile, current captain Andrew Strauss has taken a swipe at Kent for signing Australian bowler Stuart Clark on a short-term contract.

Clark had been keen to gain some match sharpness before the start of The Ashes series later this year and opted to sign a six-week deal with Kent, but Strauss thinks the county's decision is short-sighted.

Lewis Hamilton has criticised the decision to award the Formula One world title to the driver with the most race wins this season, rather than most points.

The 24-year-old would not have won last year's drivers' championship if the rules had been in place in 2008, finishing instead as runner-up to Felipe Massa.

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