London - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he expects to be without William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre for up to three weeks because of injury.

Gallas has a hamstring injury, while Silvestre suffered a thigh injury in the FA Cup win over Plymouth last weekend.

Wenger said Denilson and Toure would return for the visit of Bolton on Saturday.

"Kolo and Denilson will be back available," Wenger said. "However unfortunately we have lost William Gallas with a hamstring problem.

Rome - Luciano Moggi, former general manager of Juventus, and his son Alessandro Thursday were found guilty of threatening several footballers in a corruption trial, Italian media reported.

Luciano Moggi was sentenced to 18 months and his son to 14, but neither will be imprisoned, as their offence was pardoned by a law in 2006.

The Moggis were among the founders of GEA, a firm of footballers' agents, which handled the contract of many Serie A and Serie B players between 2001 and 2006.

London, Jan. 8 : Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez has rejected Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson's view that Liverpool does not have an outside chance of nailing the Premier League title because it is consumed by nerves.

Though bookies have rated Liverpool's chances as no better than third favourites behind Fergie's champions Manchester United and Chelsea, Benitez insisted: "I still believe we can improve and will have more options for the second half of the season - and more competition for each position."

London  - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he believed his side will reach the Carling Cup final despite their 1-0 defeat at Derby in the first leg of the semi-final on Wednesday.

United were beaten by Kris Commons' superb shot after half an hour, but Rob Hulse missed a good chance to extend their lead later on.

Ferguson said the Championship side could live to regret their missed opportunities.

"I think we are lucky," Ferguson said. "We could have lost by more.

Madrid  - Spanish cup holders Valencia were relieved to escape with a 1-1 draw away to Racing Santander on Wednesday, in a lively fifth round first leg clash.

Valencia, who beat Getafe 3-1 in last season's final, had Vicente and Miguel sent off in the dying minutes, when Santander came close to winning.

Valencia had taken the lead in the 38th minute, when Santander veteran Gonzalo Colsa headed a Manuel Fernandes corner into his own goal. From then on, the hosts were in the driving seat, with Valencia content to soak up the pressure and play on the break.