Europa League, Champions League, FA Cup – it’s all been happening fast in Europe, and this weekend will be no different. Eight fixtures are on show this Saturday and Sunday, while Manchester United get a much needed break.

Let’s jump straight into the action with a few previews of the upcoming games. Be sure to keep updated with Sportsbook.com as the weekend approaches.

Chelsea: -222
Draw: +290
Manchester City: +650

Chelsea vs. Manchester City: The Premier League leaders are in an unfamiliar position this week after conceding defeat in the Champions League. Their 2-1 loss to Inter at the San Siro wasn’t exactly a shock, but the Pensioners would still feel that they could have won the match had they converted more of their chances. Their opponents this week have had a torrid time themselves in cup ties, and it is expected that Chelsea will take the three points without much of a problem.

After Emmanuel Adebayor’s brain-snap in the FA Cup, Roberto Mancini will be breathing a sigh of relief when Carlos Tevez returns to the pitch. The Argentine has been on compassionate leave for the past few weeks, and will be returning for the upcoming game at Stamford Bridge. Their defeat against Stoke midweek was doubtless an embarrassment, and holding their own against the league leaders would do wonders for team morale.

Stoke City: +425
Draw: +250
Arsenal: -153

Stoke City vs. Arsenal: After an incredible FA Cup match midweek, Stoke City booked an unexpected quarterfinal berth against Chelsea. Their supersubs Dave Kitson and Sanli Tuncay came to the rescue of the home team after a Craig Bellamy equalizer forced the match into extra time. They face powerful opponents on the weekend, but will no doubt be buoyed by their massive home win against Manchester City.

The Gunners may not have performed well in their Champions League first leg fixture, but they have been picking up the necessary points in the Premier League. After an easy 2-0 win over Sunderland last week, Arsenal head to the Britannia Stadium knowing that their opponents are on a powerful run of form. A win at Stoke is essential if they wish to keep their title hopes alive, as all three points will put them within striking distance of both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Tottenham: -105
Draw: +230
Everton: +275

Tottenham vs. Everton: The forgotten Russian, Roman Pavlyuchenko, has turned on the style in the last week. After sitting out the majority of the season under Harry Redknapp, Pavlyuchenko has belted home four goals in just two matches. With an injury concern still lingering over Peter Crouch, and Eidur Gudjohnsen still unfavored by the manager, we can expect to see the Russian pairing up with Jermain Defoe once again.

Everton really are the giant killers in the Premier League at the moment. With wins over Chelsea and Manchester United in consecutive weeks, nobody would be surprised if they came away with another victory against Spurs. However, their 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Europa League opponents Sporting will be at the forefront of their minds. Out of the competition for another season, the Toffees now need to concentrate on the task at hand: qualifying for Europe.

Sunderland: +115
Draw: +225
Fulham: +225

Sunderland vs. Fulham: There isn’t much you can say about Steve Bruce and Sunderland that hasn’t already been said in the papers. After such an incredible start to the season, the Black Cats have been falling down the leaderboard ever since. Their horror showing at Arsenal last week was yet another acknowledgment that the team is on a downhill slide. With relegation still a big possibility, Sunderland need to start taking points at home if they want to survive.

Fulham are in the best possible position they could be in the Europa League. After claiming the scalp of reigning champions Shakhtar Donetsk, they have every right to believe that they can go all the way to the final. Their Premier League form is another matter. Even with Bobby Zamora in the best season of his career, they have produced mixed results. This will surely be a tight match, as both clubs have aspirations of European football next season.

Sportsbook.com has all the latest odds on Premier League and European football, so be sure to make a wager on your favorite club for this weekend.

The big news coming out of the Olympics over the past couple of days isn’t surrounding the latest gold medal event, but rather, the USA men’s hockey team – wearing their vintage Team USA jerseys to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice – upsetting the favored Canadians in a well earned 5-3 victory.

The game got off to a quick start with the Americans immediately taking the upper hand.  Brian Rafalski slapped in a goal off the point just 41 seconds into the game.  It stayed at 1-0 for much of the first period, until Eric Staal knocked one in for the Canadians just before the 9:00 mark.  Though, not to be outdone, the Americans quickly answered back.  Less than a minute later, Rafalski knocked in another point shot to put the USA back in the lead.

The scoring continued to go back and fourth, though there was never a point when the Americans fell behind.  And, they started the third period off with yet another goal, this time from Jamie Langenbrunner, to put the score at 4-2.  Though the Canadians put one away to put it at 3-4, they were never quite able to catch up.  With the end of the game nearing, they hit the American net hard.  Nearly the entire last two minutes of the game were played in the American defensive zone with the Canadians hammering goalie Ryan Miller, even pulling their goalie to gain the 6th man.  Persistence didn’t pay off in this instance as the Americans cleared the puck, and USA’s Ryan Kessler made a sweeping shot into the empty net.

The offensive line for the US was fantastic, though the bulk of the credit must be given to Miller who stopped an amazing 42 shots.  It has to be the most impressive goal tending of the games so far.

The big win has certainly had a few people talking, particularly those setting the odds for these winter games.  BetUS is the first to feature the updated odds after the massive upset.  They’re currently offering:

To Win Gold:
Canada: 9/5
Russia: 5/2
Sweden: 4/1
USA: 3/1
Czech Republic: 10/1
Finland: 12/1
Slovakia: 25/1
Switzerland: 80/1

Leading Scorer:
Dany Heatley: 6/5
Brian Rafalski: 3/2
Evgeni Malkin: 9/5
Sidney Crosby: 3/2
Tomas Ekanec: 3/1
Jarome Iginla: 3/1
Tomas Plekanec: 5/1
Tore Vikingstad: 5/1

Most Saves
Henrik Lundqvist: 10/13
Evgeni Nabokov: 10/11
Martn Brodeur: 10/11
Evgeni Nabokov: 10/13

Be sure to check it out as the men’s ice hockey gets into the Quarterfinals.  Things are starting to heat up, and you don’t want to miss any of it.  Also, don’t forget to check out the odds on the women’s ice hockey as the USA prepares to play Canada for the gold medal.  The game starts this Thursday, February 25.

Everton the giant killers were at it again this week, taking down reigning Premiers Manchester United just days after their victories over Chelsea and Sporting.

There were plenty of other riveting matches over the past few days as well, so let’s get straight into reviewing all of the action. Don’t forget that Sportsbook.com already has odds on Tuesday’s game, so head on over and back your favorite team.

Manchester United: -500
Draw: +500
West Ham United: +110

If you didn’t manage to catch the games, here’s a recap of the three best fixtures from Week 26.

Everton (3) vs. Manchester United (1): The Toffees continued their stellar run in the Premier League with their fifth win in six matches, and fifth consecutive victory at home.

The game started in typical United style, with the away side fashioning the majority of possession and chances. Their persistence paid off after 16 minutes when Dimitar Berbatov found himself in the right place at the right time; a packed penalty area saw the ball drop right at the Bulgarian’s feet, and he put it past Tim Howard with ease. What United didn’t expect, however, was an immediate response. Seemingly out of nowhere, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov fired the ball in from nearly 40 yards out, leaving Edwin van der Sar rooted to the ground with no chance.

The second half didn’t get any better for the Red Devils. With a lack of opportunities, United were forced to wait for the counterattack, but some stalwart defending from Everton denied them even that. With 15 minutes to go, the substitutes stepped up to the task. Everton’s Dan Gosling scored his second goal of the season to put the Toffees ahead, while Jack Rodwell wrapped it all up by coolly putting away his first Everton goal.

Portsmouth (1) vs. Stoke City (2): The Potters snatched a late winner to add more insult to Portsmouth’s injuries.

Portsmouth had plenty of confidence going into Saturday’s match after their big win over rivals Southampton last weekend. Knowing that a draw would be almost as useless as a loss, Avram Grant ended up playing five strikers over the course of 90 minutes. His side took the lead on 34 minutes after Frederic Piquionne scored his fourth goal for Pompey, and they managed to keep it that way until the end of the first half.

The second, however, was a different story. Stoke came out with fire in their eyes, and the big German, Robert Huth, managed to equalize through a cracking header on 50 minutes. It was a back-and-forth affair for the next spell, and Pompey fans were ecstatic when Andy Wilkinson was sent off in the 73rd minute for his second bookable offense. It just wasn’t to be Portsmouth’s day, though, and that was proven when substitute Salif Diao snatched all three points for Stoke in injury time.

Aston Villa (5) vs. Burnley (2): Aston Villa came from a goal behind to score five within 35 minutes. The victory relegated Burnley to their sixth straight away loss, and kept them at only a single point taken on the road this season.

Things started so well for the Clarets, with talisman Steven Fletcher scoring after only 9 minutes. Despite some good pressure from the visitors, they couldn’t hold onto the lead, though, and Ashley Young equalized to send both teams into the break with a goal apiece.

The second half was an all-out attack from Villa. Stewart Downing went on a rampage, scoring two goals within two minutes, before Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor added their names to the scoresheet. Burnley kept their heads up for the remainder of the game, but even an injury time strike from Martin Paterson wasn’t enough to avoid a hefty loss.

There is plenty of football action this week, including Premier League and Champions League fixtures, so head over to Sportsbook.com to check out all the latest odds.