LONDON -- Arsenal and England striker Paul Merson dealt English soccer a second body blow in three weeks when he confessed on Friday to snorting cocaine.


Merson, the first Premier League player to admit to drug use, told the Daily Mirror he spent up to ?150 pounds ($235) a night on his cocaine habit during marathon drinking sessions.


He said he was now determined to kick his habit.


"It's almost ruined my life. I've jeopardized my career and my marriage. Now I want everyone to know what's happened, to put it all behind me and start with a clean slate," Merson said.


Arsenal manager George Graham, a strict disciplinarian, has given Merson a week to sort out his life and regain his fitness, the newspaper said. The Football Association said it would investigate the sensational admission.


Merson said he went through a six-week binge when he snorted cocaine while consuming large amounts of alcohol. He said he found himself sniffing the drug every 10 minutes in a pub toilet.


The 26-year-old forward has 14 England caps, and a ?4 million-pound ($6.4 million) contract.He is said to be overseas and is not expected to play against league leaders Manchester United on Saturday. Merson


During his career, Merson has been fined eight times by Arsenal and once by the English game's ruling body for making obscene gestures. He was also banned from driving for 18 months for drunk driving.


Merson's admission is the second bombshell to rock English soccer in a month following allegations that Southampton goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar fixed matches for bribes.


The F.A. is investigating the charges, which Grobbelaar has denied.


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Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will need all his powers of motivation to lift his dejected team and ensure a seventh successive English Premier League victory when his team takes on Arsenal.


United was comprehensively outplayed by IFK Gotenborg 3-1 in a Champions' League defeat in Sweden on Wednesday and faces an Arsenal side determined to return to winning form after two successive defeats which Graham admits has effectively ended its title hopes.


United is bidding for its third successive English title and goes to Highbury as league leader after winning its last six league matches.Arsenal, with hot-shot striker Ian Wright back from suspension and bidding to score for the 13th successive match, will be hoping it can beat United for the first time in a league match for 3 1/2 years.


The Arsenal-United match is one of five London versus Lancashire battles, with second-placed Blackburn facing Queen's Park Rangers; fourth-placed Liverpool playing Tottenham, sixth-placed Chelsea playing Everton and Manchester City, which has risen to eighth, facing Wimbledon.


If both United and Blackburn fail, third-placed Newcastle will return to the top if it beats lowly Ipswich.


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It'll be a chest-heaving, arms-flailing, legs-churning battle at Rome's Olympic Stadium on Sunday. And that's in the parking lot.


The intensity of the battle in the streets could match that on the field, when title contenders and bitter crosstown rivals Lazio of Rome and AS Roma square off in the 11th round of the Italian First Division.


Fan violence, before, during and after last Sunday's Brescia-Roma encounter at Brescia left 33 people injured. Three Romans were charged with attempted manslaughter for the stabbing of Brescia's deputy police chief.


The match pits two top-flight squads in the hunt for the league title. Lazio (6-3-1) is in second place, two points behind pace-setter AC Parma, while Roma (4-5-1) is six points off the lead.


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Dutch national soccer coach Dick Advocaat is to join former league champion PSV Eindhoven, with Guus Hiddink taking over as manager of the national side next year, the national soccer federation said Friday. (AP, Reuters)