Betting: Man City to pile more misery on back-to-earth Leicester December 8, 2016 LEICESTER’S peculiarity of winning the Premier League last season has only been matched by their defence of it this term. Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes have one win in nine league games, and sit two points off the drop zone. Make no mistake, last year’s unlikely winners are in a relegation battle. Leicester face Manchester City tomorrow [...]
Arsene Wenger says Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez not for sale but Arsenal boss offers “no assurances” over contract talks December 8, 2016 Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal will not sell star duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, but stopped short of promising fans the club would secure them to new contracts. Both players' contracts expire at the end of next season and the pair are believed to be holding out for a significant pay rise from the Gunners before agreeing to [...]
Southampton and Leeds United named best academies in English football for producing high earning players December 8, 2016 Southampton and Leeds United are the best breeding grounds in England for footballers on a super salary in excess of €100,000 (£85,000) per week. The two clubs are the only English academies to be able to boast of more than one player currently among the game's 112 highest earners, according to a new study from [...]
Tottenham Hotspur 3, CSKA Moscow 1: Harry Kane hails end of Wembley curse as Spurs ensure qualification for Europa League December 7, 2016 Tottenham Hotspur 3, CSKA Moscow 1 Tottenham centre-forward Harry Kane insists they have lifted the Wembley curse after beating CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night to prolong their European campaign into the second half of the season. Kane’s seventh strike in six games, a cool finish from Dele Alli and an own goal from goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev [...]
Porto 5, Leicester City 0: Much-changed Foxes suffer heaviest defeat of Claudio Ranieri’s reign December 7, 2016 Porto 5, Leicester City 0 Leicester suffered the heaviest defeat of manager Claudio Ranieri’s tenure on Wednesday night as a second-string side shipped five goals in their final Champions League group game at Porto. The Premier League title-holders paid a heavy price for making 10 changes to their starting line-up, having already ensured their place [...]
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho complains about Premier League and Uefa over Europa League arrangements December 7, 2016 Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has accused the Premier League of tiring his team out by never allocating them a Monday night game after a Europa League fixture. Ahead of United's final Europa League group stage game against Ukrainians Zorya Luhansk on Thursday noght, Mourinho suggested his side was being denied adequate time to recover from European [...]
Basingstoke Town FC listed for sale on eBay by former director – but club labels it “misguided publicity stunt” December 7, 2016 Looking for some inspiration in your Christmas shopping this year? How about a football club? Basingstoke Town are currently for sale and you won't even have to grapple with the crowds to buy them. The non-league club were listed for sale on eBay yesterday by fan and former director Simon Hood who believes more needs to [...]
Mauricio Pochettino: Europa League games could help Tottenham get over Wembley hoodoo December 6, 2016 Mauricio Pochettino believes the Europa League could give his Tottenham team the chance to acclimatise to Wembley following their failed Champions League campaign. Spurs lost their first two games at Wembley before being dumped out of the Champions League last month, but they can salvage a spot in Uefa's secondary competition by avoiding defeat to CSKA Moscow under the [...]
Slaven Bilic must go back to basics to steer West Ham out of a relegation battle and save his job December 6, 2016 One point above the relegation zone, reeling from a thrashing at home to Arsenal on Saturday, and now uncertainty over the future of Slaven Bilic. It is hard to work out how it has gone so wrong so quickly for West Ham and their manager. Firstly, while it is no excuse, the stadium factor can’t [...]
FA Cup third round: Pep Guardiola’s first taste of tournament to come against West Ham at the London Stadium December 5, 2016 Serial domestic trophy winner Pep Guardiola will mark his first taste of FA Cup action with an all-Premier League tie after Manchester City were handed an away trip against West Ham in the third round. Guardiola guided Barcelona to two Copa del Rey titles during his four-year managerial stint at Camp Nou before twice winning the [...]