Premier League XI on shortlist for Ballon d'Or

England internationals Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among 11 Premier League players shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or.

The trio are the only British representatives for the award alongside the likes of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo - the clear favourite - and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

France Football magazine today revealed the condensed list of 30 contenders for their European golden ball award, with Barcelona striker Thierry Henry and AC Milan's Ronaldinho - who received the accolade in 2005 - absent after disappointing campaigns last season.

Portugal international winger Ronaldo is the clear favourite to win the award on December 2 with Barca talisman Lionel Messi and 2007 winner Kaka (AC Milan) also in contention.

Rooney won the Champions League with Manchester United in May while Lampard played in the final for Chelsea. Liverpool's Gerrard impressed as they reached the tournament's last four before losing to Chelsea in the semi-finals.

Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba (both Chelsea), Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic (both Manchester United) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) are the other Premier League stars on the list, which has been cut down from 50.

Spain are represented by seven players after winning Euro 2008 in the summer - Torres and Fabregas being joined by Marcos Senna, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, David Villa and Xavi.

Only three Serie A players have been nominated - Kaka, Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - with Spain's Primera Division matching the Premier League with 11 nominees.

Previous Ballon d'Or winners Andriy Shevchenko and Fabio Cannavaro have missed out.

Nominees

Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar (all Manchester United), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack (all Chelsea), Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres (both Liverpool), Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor (both Arsenal), Iker Casillas, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rafael van der Vaart, Sergio Ramos, Pepe (all Real Madrid), Lionel Messi, Xavi, Samuel Eto'o (all Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), David Villa (Valencia), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Kaka (AC Milan), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Franck Ribery, Luca Toni (both Bayern Munich), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow). Karim Benzema (Lyon)

Valencia clear at the top as Villa shines

MADRID, Oct 19 (Reuters) - David Villa made it eight goals from seven games with a brace in Valencia's 4-0 hammering of promoted Numancia, that put them clear at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday.

The Spain striker, who has also bagged five for the European champions in World Cup qualifying, netted after only five minutes at the Mestalla.

He then helped set up the second for Juan Mata midway through the second half, and after substitute Vicente had made it 3-0, Villa stole a fourth at the end.

Unai Emery's side stretched their unbeaten start to seven and they lead the standings with 19 points, two ahead of local rivals Villarreal, who were held to a 0-0 draw at Espanyol on Saturday.

Champions Real Madrid are third with 16 points after a last-gasp penalty earned them a 2-1 away win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid, also on Saturday.

Later on Sunday, Barcelona were playing away to Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla were at Almeria.

Real Betis hauled themselves off the foot of the standings and eased the pressure on coach Paco Chaparro with their first victory of the season, beating Real Mallorca 3-0 at home.

Promoted Sporting Gijon spoiled Jose Antonio Camacho's debut as new coach of struggling Osasuna, sending the visiting Navarrans to a 2-1 defeat.

colari thrilled by Blues' strength in depth

Luiz Felipe Scolari brushed aside Chelsea's injury problems after seeing his side do just that to Middlesbrough.

The Brazilian headed for the Riverside Stadium yesterday with a collection of world stars remaining behind in the treatment room and some of his so-called lesser lights having to step up to the plate.

But despite the absence of the likes of Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Ashley and Joe Cole, they emerged on the right end of a 5-0 romp with their position at the top of the Premier League further enhanced.

The performance and result were testament not only to the depth of owner Roman Abramovich's pockets and Scolari's wealth of experience, but also to the motivation of a series of players who have had to remain stoically patient in the wings at Stamford Bridge.

No-one typified the determination to take the opportunity to impress more than Brazilian utility man Juliano Belletti, who was a revelation in a fluid midfield which tore woeful Boro to shreds.

Scolari said: "Saturday was fantastic for us because I had some players who have not played many games and they showed to me and to the people that they are in good condition to play for Chelsea.

"This is a group, this is a team, it is not only 11 players, and that is what I want.

"If Chelsea bought these players, if Chelsea think those players are good, why should I be afraid if one or two players are missing?

"I have confidence in these players. It sends a message to me - 'I am here, I want to play for Chelsea, I have ability, please look at me'.''

Chelsea's injury list had sparked an air of optimism on Teesside in the run-up to the game.

The absence of key names on the Boro team-sheet - the injured Robert Huth and Justin Hoyte joined suspended skipper Emanuel Pogatetz on the sidelines, while record signing Afonso Alves was named only among the substitutes - might have tempered that belief.

However, the ease with which Boro were taken apart was as sickening for the home fans as it was pleasantly surprising for their travelling counterparts.

It took just 14 minutes for the Blues to get their noses in front, Salomon Kalou firing home from close-range after Belletti's shot had been blocked.

Just how Frank Lampard failed to convert Florent Malouda's cross in front of goal 10 minutes later remains a mystery, and the second goal did not arrive until six minutes after the break.

It was worth the wait, however, Belletti smashing an unstoppable 35-yard missile past the despairing Ross Turnbull, whose afternoon in the Boro goal was to take several more turns for the worse.

Turnbull was helpless as Kalou's shot two minutes later went in off David Wheater's chest, and he was horribly exposed when Lampard dived to head the Ivory Coast international's 63rd-minute cross home.

The keeper was culpable as Malouda helped himself to a fifth, spilling Anelka's shot on to the post to set him up, and although he redeemed himself with a fine save from Anelka, it was a day he, like the rest of his team-mates, will want to forget in a hurry.

Scolari was at pains not to get too carried away, and insisted his players still have much to learn.

He said: "All the time, we have to improve and learn lessons if we want to get better. That's life.''

Matchday 7

DATE	Home	SCORE	OPPONENT
10/18 19:00 UK	Atlético Madrid	VS	Real Madrid
10/18 21:00 UK	Espanyol	VS	Villarreal
10/19 16:00 UK	Valladolid	VS	Recreativo Huelva
10/19 16:00 UK	Valencia	VS	Numancia
10/19 16:00 UK	Racing Santander	VS	Deportivo La Coruña
10/19 16:00 UK	Real Betis	VS	Mallorca
10/19 16:00 UK	Sporting Gijon	VS	Osasuna
10/19 16:00 UK	Málaga	VS	Getafe
10/19 18:00 UK	Athletic Bilbao	VS	Barcelona
10/19 20:00 UK	Almeria	VS	Seville