Arsène Wenger says that Robin van Persie has qualities similar to Lionel Messi

Van Persie has scored 26 goals in 31 games this year while not being a conventional centre-forward. “On that front, I see similarities positional-wise with Messi,” Wenger said. “He comes deep and likes to turn up in attack as well. Don’t make me make a comparison with Messi but just positional-wise he doesn’t play like a real centre-forward.”
Wenger praised Van Persie’s maturity, something he hopes to accelerate further having awarded him the captaincy, and hailed the Dutchman as a “super-talent technically”, and no one who witnessed this performance, and the technique shown in claiming those two goals, would argue with that.

Today matches

Premier League
Time	Match
13:45	Manchester City - Everton
16:00	Newcastle United - Blackburn Rovers
16:00	Wigan Athletic - Tottenham Hotspur
16:00	Liverpool - Wolverhampton Wanderers
16:00	Chelsea - Swansea City
16:00	Arsenal - Bolton Wanderers
16:00	West Bromwich Albion - Fulham
18:30	Stoke City - Manchester

La Liga
Time	Match
18:00	Sevilla FC - Valencia CF
18:00	Athletic Bilbao - Villarreal CF
20:00	Real Madrid - Rayo Vallecano
22:00	FC Barcelona - Atlético Madrid

Serie A
Time	Match
18:00	Bologna - Internazionale
20:45	Napoli - Fiorentina
20:45	AC Milan - Cesena

Bundesliga
Time	Match
15:30	Schalke 04 - SC Freiburg
15:30	FSV Mainz 05 - Borussia Dortmund
15:30	VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Kaiserslautern
15:30	Borussia Mönchengladbach - 1. FC Nürnberg
15:30	FC Augsburg - Hannover 96
18:30	Bayern Munich - Bayer Leverkusen

Ligue 1
Time	Match
18:00	Toulouse FC - AS Nancy
19:00	OGC Nice - Dijon FCO
19:00	Olympique Lyon - Girondins Bordeaux
19:00	Valenciennes - Olympique Marseille
19:00	Lille OSC - FC Lorient
19:00	Évian Thonon Gaillard FC - Caen
21:00	Montpellier HSC - Paris Saint-Germain

Liverpool: Reds Travel to Brighton in Carling Cup Action

Liverpool was handed a cold, harsh dose of reality on Sunday when they lost 4-0 at Tottenham. Both the scoreline and the manner of defeat reminded everyone associated with the club just how much work there is to be done if the Reds are to hit their target of a top-four finish in the English Premier League.

Captain Steve Gerrard is expected to return from a six-month injury layoff, though it is uncertain how much he will play. New signings Craig Bellamy and Sebastian Coates should make their debuts in the starting 11. 

The Reds look to advance to the next round in their quest for silverware.