Premier League, Week 24: Liverpool, Tottenham, Cat Play Out Scoreless Draw

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool both went into their match at Anfield today knowing a win would be hugely important. Spurs needed three points to have any hope of keeping pace with Manchester City at the top of the table, and Liverpool needed to take advantage of a slip by Chelsea at home against Manchester United that's blown the race for fourth place back open. But instead of going for broke, neither team did much of anything.

It's true that both sides defended well, apart from a few incidents in the latter stages of the game which saw Luis Suarez, returning from a long ban, miss an open header, Andy Carroll blaze over from a great position and Gareth Bale somehow completely mess up a one on one with Pepe Reina. But the real story of the match was an incident involving a pitch invader - a cute little cat wandered onto the pitch in the first half and captivated the nation's collective attention. Fortunately, it was ushered off the playing surface before it could stalk and devour little Luka Modric, allowing the match, which would eventually finish at 0-0, to be played out in full.

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur clash at Anfield in a match that could help each team jump to new heights entirely. With Manchester United and Chelsea battling it out to a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, Liverpool could vault into the fight for fourth place with a win, while Tottenham could move to within three points of United in second place should they claim victory. Luis Suarez returns to the home side's bench after serving his eight-game ban for the racist abuse of Patrice Evra.

Liverpool starting lineup (4-5-1): Pepe Reina; Martin Kelly, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger, Glen Johnson; Craig Bellamy Jay Spearing, Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam, Dirk Kuyt; Andy Carroll.

Substitutes from: Doni, Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, Sebastian Coates, Stewart Downing, Jamie Carragher, Fabio Aurelio.

Tottenham starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Brad Friedel; Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Ledley King, Michael Dawson, Kyle Walker; Scott Parker, Jake Livermore; Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Niko Krancjar; Emmanuel Adebayor.

Substitutes from: Carlo Cudicini, Bongani Kumalo, Ryan Nelsen, Danny Rose, Massimo Luongo, Cameron Lancaster, Louis Saha.

Chelsea have officially confirmed that today's match against Manchester United will take place as scheduled, with kickoff at 16:00 GMT / 11:00 ET. Last year's fixture at Stamford Bridge was postponed early due to similar conditions, with much outcry when it turned out that the snow really wasn't that bad. So this season, despite the snow covering the pitch in London, the teams will take to the field. Chelsea FC: where men will be men, and boys will wear gloves and short sleeves.

Meanwhile up north, nothing short of a blizzard will stop Newcastle from hosting Aston Villa. The Magpies are looking to debut Papiss Cisse, and crossing their fingers in hopes of a result similar to the last time the Villans came to town -- a 6-0 thumping of the visitors.

So grab your blankets and your tea, and get ready for some exciting Premier League action. Or at least, the chance to see the orange ball.

Manchester City came into their match against Fulham knowing that a win would take them three points clear of Manchester United, and within ten minutes it was pretty clear that they'd get it. Adam Johnson managed to 'earn' himself a penalty by initiating contact against Chris Baird while the left back was trying to take evasive action, and Sergio Aguero stepped up to slam the spot kick past Mark Schwarzer for a 1-0 lead.

The Premier League leaders doubled their advantage on the half hour mark when the hapless Baird turned the ball into his own net, and City could easily have scored several more as they ran riot over their guests. And then the snow, which was an annoyance in the early stages of the game, picked up and events at the Etihad became farcical as the two sides were forced to play in what amounted to a blizzard, complete with groundkeepers running out to clear the lines.

With the conditions atrocious, Fulham were able to make something of themselves, but it was clear that City could break at will and the eventually put the game away after some fantastic work by Aguero allowed Edin Dzeko an opportunity to make it 3-0 from eight yards. The Bosnian didn't miss, and although City nearly managed to score an own goal from a corner, the score held for a comfortable, if rather odd victory.

Norwich City vs. Bolton Wanderers

Norwich looked as though they'd wasted their chances at victory after pounding Bolton in the first half but failing to score, but late goals by Andrew Surman and Anthony Pilkington ensured the game didn't end up nil-nil. Bolton never really put up a fight, and Norwich's only opponent in the match was their own finishing. They finally managed to vanquish it int he 70th minute, and it eventually ended up 2-0 at Carrow Road.

Queens Park Rangers vs. Wolverhamton Wanderers

Things started well for QPR when Bobby Zamora smashed in a neat backheel by Shaun Wright-Phillips to open the scoring on his Hoops debut barely fifteen minutes into the game, but things went downhill in a hurry when Djibril Cisse reacted to an awful challenge by Wolves defender Roger Johnson by putting his hands to the centre back's face. Mark Clattenburg responded with a straight red, and the visitors took advantage of it by drawing level shortly after halftime through a deft Matthew Jarvis goal. It went from bad to worse when Kevin Doyle made it 2-1 in the 71st minute, and despite a spirited attempt at a comeback led by Adel Taarabt, the hosts couldn't find the back of the net again.

Stoke City vs. Sunderland

A frolic in the snow turned nasty when German defender Robert Huth wiped out David Meyler with a wild slide tackle and was shown a straight red just before halftime. James McClean then made it 1-0 to Sunderland with a neat individual effort as he burst into the Sunderland box and finished past Thomas Sorensen, ultimately giving Martin O'Neill's side yet another win. Under their new manager, Sunderland have secured an astonishing 22 points from 30, and they've now made it all the way back up to 8th in the table.

West Bromwich Albion vs. Swansea City

WBA were the first to open the scoring at the Hawthorns against Swansea, but their lead lasted all of a minute as the visitors got over the disappointment of dropping two late points to Chelsea in midweek by mounting a neat come from behind performance to grab a victory here. Mark-Antoine Fortune had made it 1-0 to the hosts when he volleyed in a corner kick, but on-loan Gylfi Sigurdsson pulled it back within a minute and then turned provider when he crossed for Danny Graham to sidefoot home five minutes later. Swansea would hold on for the 2-1 win.

Wigan Athletic vs. Everton

Victor Anichebe spared Everton's blushes after a calamitous mistake by Tim Howard saw the Toffees 1-0 down to lowly Wigan at the DW Stadium. With the match scoreless, Phil Neville could only partially block a cross, and the right back's intervention put enough spin on the ball to confuse the USA number one, who could only stare in horror as it bent around him and into the back of the net at about five miles an hour. Fortunately, Leighton Baines and Anichebe managed to combine off a corner to pull it back to 1-1 with less than ten minutes left, and that's how it would end.

Arsenal responded to their midweek 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers in emphatic fashion against poor Blackburn Rovers. With the reverse fixture at Ewood Park having been a shock win for Blackburn, Arsenal were in the mood to make a statement, and it took just two minutes for Robin van Persie to get on the scoresheet thanks to Theo Walcott's sudden ability to pass the ball to his teammates.

In the 31st minute Blackburn levelled - briefly - through a Morten Gamst Pederson free kick, but a flurry of action followed between the equaliser and halftime, with another goal from van Persie plus a Premier League first for Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain before Gael Givet was dismissed for a two-footed scissor tackle on the Gunners skipper. Outclassed with eleven men on the pitch, the visitors had no chance with ten, and were absolutely pounded after the break. Mikel Arteta scored from a corner, Oxlaide-Chamberlain notched his brace, and van Persie ended up with a hattrick before the ultimate embarrassment was to befall Blackburn - a late goal by decrepit substitue Theirry Henry, his first in the league for five years.

Arsenal move back up to fifth with the 7-1(!) win, and their goal difference is now in double digits. Nothing like some Blackburn to cure what ails.

The folks at SB Nation's fantasy soccer site You'll Never Manage Alone are your friends this weekend. That is because pretty much every team has a slew of injuries and suspensions this weekend and when players go out, fantasy managers freak out. What should you do when you freak out? Head to your resident expert, of course, and your resident expert is Neal Thurman, who gives you the breakdown of what to do with your midfield for this weekend's Premier League matches.

There are lots of interesting midfielders right about now from the ones that most people have cheap (David Silva and Antonio Valencia) to some of the more recently productive enablers (Gylfi Sigurdsson, Hatem Ben Arfa, Darron Gibson) to the recently on fire (Clint Dempsey, Gareth Bale, Stephane Sessegnon). Of that group only Bale and Dempsey seem a little too expensive given match-ups. If you're particularly bold you might consider Theo Walcott in the "expensive" midfield role. As mentioned above Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a question mark so you can probably do much better as far as enablers go. Somehow, it also feels like a Samir Nasri sort of a weekend but I can't say I know why I feel that way. Maybe just because there aren't many other premium midfielders who interest me this weekend.

There is also the match-by-match breakdown and your team of the week. If you're like me and lose track of some of the details of the week when picking your fantasy team, this is a lifesaver. Now if only it could come with a reminder to check and fix your lineup each week. Oh, wait. That's what this is!