Good morning all. Today is shaping up to be a very busy day in the soccer world. It’s the last weekday before the close of the transfer window and it is the day before many of the world’s top leagues kickoff. Throw in the UEFA Cup draw and the UEFA Super Cup and you’ve got nice selection of soccer news to discuss.
Let’s get the day started:
UEFA Cup Draw Set
As if one trip to Liverpool for a knockout home-and-home series wasn’t enough, Oguchi Onyewu’s Standard Liege is set for a return trip to the home of the Beatles as the Belgian champions were drawn against Tim Howard’s Everton in today’s UEFA Cup draw.
Liege-Everton joins Benfica-Napoli and Udinese-Borussia Dortmund as arguably the three toughest match-ups in the 80-team draw. AC Milan’s UEFA Cup run begins against FC Zurich while Aston Villa draws Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) and Manchester City draws Omonia Nicosia (Cyprus). Here is the full draw.
Saha joins Everton
Everton’s late-window shopping spree has landed none other than Manchester United striker Louis Saha. The former Fulham striker struggled the past two seasons with injuries but could be a perfect fit in a Toffees attack that was in desperate need of a striker to replace Andy Johnson. A Yakubu-Saha strike force could be pretty formidable.
Liverpool land Riera
Just when you thought Rafa Benitez had enough Spaniards on his squad, now comes word that Liverpool is set to add Spanish left winger Albert Riera. Liverpool beat out, among others, arch-rival Everton for the midfielder’s services.
That’s something to get your day going. There should be some news on American player transfers that do or don’t happen so keep an eye out for that today, as well as our weekly installment of ‘This week’s soccer on TV’ and some other posts throughout the day.
For now, share your thoughts on the UEFA Cup draw, Saha’s signing and Rafa’s latest Spanish acquisition in the comments section below.