Best of… Wednesday, January 20th, 2010.

Top 5 things that happened in the world of football today:

1. Arsene Wenger’s squad is now sitting atop the Premier League table on goal differential as Arsenal fought back from 2-0 down to defeat Owen Coyle’s Bolton 4-2 at the Emirates. Wenger said: “Chelsea have a game in hand, but it is good. We had two difficult games against Bolton with a new manager, two cup games almost, and our mental and physical strength was tested again tonight. We are certainly much more physically resistant.

2. After a ten-year cup final drought, Aston Villa are finally heading to Wembley after an instant-classic 10-goal thriller at Villa Park. Also falling 2-0 behind, Martin O'Neill’s fierce side battled on to a 6-4 win against Blackburn Rovers, giving Villa a spot in the Carling Cup final 7-4 on aggregate.

3. Liverpool, through means of Dirk Kuyt’s double, hushed the English media’s slander against the Reds with an impressive 2-0 performance over fellow Champions League-hopefuls Tottenham. Liverpool are now sitting just one point away from Harry Redknapp’s team, who are in 4th place on 38 points.

4. Egypt cruised into the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals by maintaining its perfect record in the by downing Benin 2-0. Nigeria also booked their place in the quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory over Mozambique. Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Angola, and Algeria have already qualified for the quarterfinals. Gabon and Cameroon look favourites to claim the final two spots tomorrow in Group D action.

5. (Two things!) Pep Guardiola has signed a one-year contract extension with Barcelona, and Clint Dempsey will not miss the World Cup. In fact, the Fulham and United States marksman will probably be back in action before the end of the Premier League campaign.

Today’s match highlights are embedded after the jump. Once higher quality highlights become available, those will be posted.