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LONDON - When European footballs January transfer window opens for business on Wednesday, the market is expected to have a slow start. In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Chasing their first league title in 10 years, the Gunners are reportedly looking for a forward to add to France international Olivier Giroud, who ended a seven-match scoring drought with the winner at Newcastle on Sunday, ensuring that his club starts 2014 at the top. Although Giroud said Arsenal has sufficient attacking options for the remainder of the season with himself, Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hinted he could be tempted to sign a couple of new players. After failing to lure Luis Suarez, Wenger wont bid again for the Uruguay striker, who signed a new deal with Liverpool this month. "We are, as many clubs, certainly on alert. If something special turns up, we will not turn it down," Wenger said. "But we are not as well desperate because we have a big depth in our squad." Lagging two points behind Arsenal in the standings, Chelsea could also be looking for extra firepower after Samuel Etoo, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres scored only six goals between them in the league so far this season. With Ba, Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne possibly leaving, British media reported that Chelsea and Liverpool have held discussions about the possible arrival of Suarez at Stamford Bridge that could make up for Jose Mourinhos failure to sign Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in the off-season. While a Suarez move to Chelsea looks highly unlikely, Monaco forward Radamel Falcao is a more realistic target for Mourinho, with the Colombian reportedly unhappy in the French league. Xabi Alonso has also been linked with a move to the Blues. After a shaky start to the season, defending champion Manchester United has managed to limit the damages with four consecutive wins and trails Arsenal by eight points going into the new year. David Moyes has not been able to replace Paul Scholes and is in need of a creative midfielder. The Red Devils manager could make a 50 million pound ($82 million) offer for Everton marvel Ross Barkley. Avoiding the drop to the second-tier League Championship is crucial, with topflight teams boosted by increased revenues. And last-place Sunderland will beef up its defence with Marcos Alonso, who will join from Fiorentina until the end of the season. "Marcos is a player that I have known well for a very long time," Sunderland manager Gus Poyet said. "He was desperate to come and play for Sunderland and he is a player I am excited to work with." Staying among the elite is also vital for West Ham. The London club is languishing in 19th place after scoring only 18 goals in 19 matches and signed 18-year-old striker Jaanai Gordon from Peterborough. Everything looks relatively quiet in Spain, too. Barcelona seems more concerned with getting Lionel Messi healthy again for the second half of the season, and will probably be more than content to have its star forward playing at full speed again. The only possible big move would be Barcelona signing a replacement for goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who has said he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. Atletico Madrid is reportedly reinforcing its title challenge by bringing in midfielder Jose Sosa from Metalist. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski is expected to confirm in the coming days that he will be leaving for Bayern Munich at the end of the season, while AC Milan has already announced the arrivals of Adil Rami and Keisuke Honda. In France, winger Jeremy Menez is lacking playing time at Paris Saint-Germain and has been linked with a move to Juventus to boost his chances of making the trip to the World Cup in Brazil, and Bastia signed former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse on an 18-month deal. .Y. -- A month ago, Syracuse was unbeaten, ranked No. . -- The Orlando Magic have made no secret that the future of their franchise will depend on how well they can develop their young players. http://www.goldenknightsnhlshop.com/vad ... rsey-c-35/. Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. . Alina Fodorova of Ukraine took third place. Broersen based her gold-medal performance on great high jumping, and finished with 4,830 points, while Theisen-Eaton, from Humboldt, Sask., set a national record of 4,768.MANCHESTER, England - The English Premier League season is approaching its halfway point and a number of storylines are beginning to take shape.Chelsea and Manchester City are unstoppable forces and will fight it out for the title. Manchester Uniteds resurgence, based on its glut of attacking riches, is offering a tantalizing glimpse of what to expect next season with its defence sorted out.And the fight for the final Champions League place could involve five or six teams and be the most thrilling in years.The second part of the festive fixture pileup takes place on Sunday, when squad strength is set to come into play as 18 of the leagues 20 teams play their second matches in the space of 48 hours.Chelsea holds a three-point lead over City heading into a tricky-looking away match at Southampton, which has recovered from a blip and is back in the top four. With City on a seven-match winning streak and at home to relegation-threatened Burnley, there is a chance of a twist in the title race.Third-place United is unbeaten in eight matches, winning seven of them, but faces a test of its new-found credentials in an away match at Tottenham — one of a slew of teams in the chasing pack in the hunt for European football next season.Elsewhere, West Ham meets Arsenal in a match pitting fifth vs. sixth respectively, while Liverpool hosts Swansea in another game between two teams in the top nine and in reach of the top four.Here are some things to know about the 19th round of games, which marks the mid-point of the campaign:___VINTAGE TERRYScoring goals at one end and keeping them out at the other, John Terry is a player reborn at Chelsea.Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho sees my John of 2004, 05, 06 in the recent displays of the former England captain, who has been a rock in the teams superb start to the season.Terry has scored goals in each of his last two games and helped Chelsea keep clean sheets in six of its last seven matches.Terry was Chelseas captain during Mourinhos first spell as manager at Stamford Bridge, helping the team to back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 06.Key to Chelseas obduracy in defence is the form of holding midfielder Nemanja Matic, who has been one of the star players in the Premier League this season and a brilliant protector of the back four.Hes been a revelation for us, Terrry said.dddddddddddd___SOUTHAMPTON RECOVERYSouthampton was Chelseas nearest challenger only a month ago, before a defeat to Man City sparked a run of four league losses that burst the bubble at St. Marys Stadium.The south-coast side is back in form after successive wins against Everton and Crystal Palace, scoring three goals in both games, and could give Chelsea problems.For everybody, Chelsea are the biggest test, Southampton manager Ronald Koeman said. In my opinion, they are the best team in the Premier League until now, but we believe in ourselves and it will be a great game.Southampton has struggled against the top teams this season, though, losing to Liverpool, City, Arsenal and Man United.___ROONEY REVELLINGWayne Rooney has dropped back into central midfield as Man United manager Louis van Gaal looks to find a spot for all his attacking players — and the England captain is responding with some of his best form in years.Rooney scored twice in Fridays 3-1 win over Newcastle to take his team-high tally to nine goals for the season. He has scored eight times in his last eight games for club and country, and is keeping up his scoring form despite playing in midfield for United.Its a role that Ive played many times and I know I can play, said Rooney, who has played behind Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie for the last two games. The manager has given me even more license to get forward and get into the box from that role.Comparing himself to United great Paul Scholes, Rooney added: As Paul did many times over his career, he could see the ball when it was wide and see the space and run into it.___EVERTON STRUGGLINGIts been a tough season for the Merseyside clubs — but while Liverpool appears to be on the rise, nothing is going right for Everton.The blue half of Merseyside has lost four of its last six Premier League games to drop to 12th place in the standings. The team is 13 points behind where it was last season after 18 games, with its regression perhaps due to its involvement in the Europa League.Everton lost 1-0 at home to Stoke on Friday during which defender Phil Jagielka, American goalkeeper Tim Howard and winger Kevin Mirallas were injured and are all set to miss Sundays trip to Newcastle.It is a pivotal moment in the season for us, Everton manager Roberto Martinez said. ' ' '