Toni given World Cup hope by Lippi

Luca Toni's move back to Italy could put him in the reckoning to play for the Azzurri in the World Cup this summer.

The veteran striker has made a loan move to Roma following a frustrating period at Bayern Munich and got his first start back in Serie A in his new side's 1-0 victory over Chievo.

Toni has not played for Italy since the Confederations Cup in the summer of 2009, but Marcelo Lippi has opened the door for him to return if he can regain fitness and show some good form before the end of the season.

However, Lippi did warn that he can only have 23 players on the plane to South Africa and he remains "happy and convinced" he will be able to choose from a large number of players in the coming months.

Indeed, this wide pool of players should help ensure Italian are among the favourites when it comes to World Cup football betting.

Speaking about Toni's first appearance back in Serie A, Lippi said: "I saw a great performance by Toni. I was very impressed considering he had not played for several months."

"I follow all the games. I am monitoring everything," he added.

Toni's new teammate Francesco Totti recently said he would be willing to return from international retirement for Italy is he was fit and selected by Lippi.

The veteran quit after Italy's World Cup 2006 victory but now has said he will go to South Africa is Lippi wants him as part of the squad.

Can Arsenal win the premiership?

Premiership result 20/01/10 Arsenal 4: Bolton 2

Although the Gallas challenge on Mark Davies is still the subject of controversy (Bolton fans argue that play should have been stopped; instead it set up the Fabregas equaliser) the superiority of Arsenal over Bolton last night is not. In addition few would dispute that the ability of the Arsenal team to turn over a 2 goal deficit and make it look easy shows that morale is high in the Gooner camp. Walcott's appearance for the first time since Christmas was also good news for the Emirates' faithful, who have been mourning the loss of Van Persie's pace since he injured his ankle in an international friendly in November.

Arsenal are currently riding high at the top of the table by virtue of goals scored, although Chelsea in second do have as game in hand. Arsenal and Chelsea are also due to meet again on 7th February, which given the Blues' 3-0 hammering of the Gooners when they met in November at the Emirates, is not a fixture Arsenal will be counting on 3 points from.

For the past few seasons Wenger has claimed until the very very last minute that the Arsenal are still in contention for the premiership, but at this point in time in this season it would be difficult to dispute. Of course Chelsea remain the hot favourites and have played some absolute cracking football this season, but even teams of their calibre are not immune to slipping up - remember the Wigan result in September (3:1 to Wigan)!!