It’s only 11 a.m. here in the Midwest, but there has already been some astonishing results in the EPL. Blackburn may have pulled off a sensation on the final day of 2011, Becks could keep his shades in LA and Kevin Garnett bought stakes in Roma!  Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

English Premier League

Sir Alex Ferguson won’t be enjoying his 70th birthday as his Manchester United squad fell to the Blackburn Rovers this morning at Old Trafford. Our own Kayla Knapp has the details of the match here!

The Rovers weren’t the only ones coming away with a win to cause some eyes to widen. Aston Villa pulled out 3 points today but considering the three goals they notched were against Chelsea, who’s been quite lack-luster this season, some of you footy fans might not be too surprised by this outcome.

So now that Carlos Tevez has done his little whiny dance with AC Milan and Manchester City, it seems he’s going to get what he wants. City’s boss Roberto Mancini said yesterday if the Italian giants accept the fact they need to buy the Argentinian striker, then Tevez could be gone as soon as 10 days.

So, we hear all about the best players of the English Premier League and even all about the worst players; but what about the most underrated players who never get the spotlight? The Bleacher Report has 10 players of the EPL who do work, but you might not hear about them.

Major League Soccer

One of the NCAA’s most promising players, Nick DeLeon, a senior midfielder at Louisville, has added his name to the SuperDraft for early signing to join MLS. DeLeon finishes his two-year stint at U of L with 14 goals and nine assists.

There’s tons of rumors circulating around MLS lately. Now talks are up that Italian team Palermo have their eyes set on Seattle Sounders’ Alvaro Fernandez. The midfielder apparently is very keen to leave MLS and Palermo is very willing to whisk the Uruguayan player away.

Oh how have the tables have turned; after what seemed liked months of Paris Saint-Germain claiming they were pulling David Beckham from the LA Galaxy, BBC Sport is now reporting that things have flipped and LA will get to keep Becks with a new deal. 

Serie A

Here’s something rather interesting: apparently NBA star Kevin Garnett is expanding his sports reach by grabbing a stake in the Italian club Roma. Garnett is only the second NBA player to do such, following in the footsteps of LeBron James who purchased a stake in Liverpool earlier this year.

La Liga

Jose Mourinho is all fired up again. Critics have been harping on Real Madrid for wanting good results more than playing attractive football. Why this is such a big deal is beyond me, since as far as I’m concerned, all teams want good results. Mourinho in true fashion has fired back, stating that if his side didn’t play attractive football, fans wouldn’t flock to the stadium each week to seem them. 

World Soccer

It’s been a hell of a year, soccer fans. From the Women’s World Cup, to Torres transfer from Liverpool, to the Galaxy finally winning an MLS Cup with David Beckham. Ready for a wrap up of the top soccer stories of 2011?