Tottenham Hotspur move for Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie

Losses for Arsenal and Tottenham last weekend are set to add extra spice to the always feisty north London derby at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners were comfortably outdone by a Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool in a 3-1 defeat that ended their perfect start to the Premier League season.

Times are even tougher for Tottenham, who slipped up at home to Newcastle United and seem distracted by the transfer speculation surrounding star playmaker Christian Eriksen.

Clarity of purpose can be discovered in matches of this magnitude but a survey of the Opta data sheds light on just how difficult it will be for Spurs to succeed.

AWAY GAME NO ESCAPE FOR SPURS

Lucas Moura urged Tottenham to stop dropping stupid points at home right before th…

Verdict: Roma win 

Best Odds: 

Bookmaker: 

AS Roma and FC Porto will both be confident of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals as they gear up for the first leg of their round-of-16 tie this week.

Starting with the hosts, with Roma coming off the back of a 3-0 win away at Chievo last the weekend, Eusebio Di Francesco will be desperate for his side to string together some momentum. Still looking to recover from their 7-1 hammering at the hands of Fiorentina and crashing out of the Coppa Italia, they have now managed to pick up just one win in their last four matches across all competitions. Despite now sitting outside of the top-four in Serie A, ‎I Giallorossi do hold an eye-catching record at the Stadio Olimpico. Winning seven of thei…

Barcelona s stars have stopped being surprised by Lionel Messi s continued brilliance, according to midfielder Sergio Busquets.

The Argentinian superstar has once again been in imperious form this season, scoring 43 goals in 40 games across all competitions.

Busquets has played alongside the 31-year-old for more than a decade and says there is nothing Barca s players have not seen the unique Messi do.

We have the good fortune to train with him every day, he told the Daily Mail.

I ve spent the last 11 years with him, so you get that greater concentration of him doing these things.

We re not quite as surprised by it all. There isn t a goal he s scored on the pitch that we haven t seen in training and he s also repeating goals he has scored in pr…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Manchester United supporters to see plenty more of Shola Shoretire in the future after the 17-year-old s history-making appearance against Real Sociedad on Thursday. 

Shoretire, who made his senior debut in United s Premier League win over Newcastle United at the weekend, was introduced for the final 14 minutes of the 0-0 draw with La Real to become the Red Devil s youngest ever player in European competition at the age of 17 years and 23 days. 

He was unable to make much of an impact as United booked their Europa League last-16 spot with a 4-0 aggregate victory over their LaLiga opponents, but Solskjaer believes the club have a hugely promising player on their hands. 

Shola will be a good player for us,  the United boss said …

Arsenal interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg claimed his players produced the right style of play in their 2-2 draw with Norwich City on Sunday.

Ljungberg was promoted from a coaching role to take temporary charge of the Gunners for the trip to Carrow Road after Unai Emery was sacked on Friday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a brace as Arsenal twice fought back to earn a point following goals from Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell.

The Gunners were more adventurous with some of their attacking play, which pleased former Sweden international Ljungberg, who played for Arsenal between 1998 and 2007.

We started the game really well, that’s how I want to play football, Ljungberg told Sky Sports.

We dominated away from home at the start on the game. …

Best odds: 1/1

Bookmaker:

As part of the 16th round of fixtures of the Super Lig, rescheduled due to the well-publicized problems in Turkish football, Fenerbahce will aim to continue their impressive form as they welcome Konyaspor on Wednesday evening.

This encounter marks the 47th meeting between these two sides, with the hosts holding a commanding lead in the head-to-head standings, boasting 35 victories compared to Konyaspor s nine, while six matches have ended in draws.

Fenerbahce

The initial phase of the 2023/24 season witnessed a swift establishment of a two-way title race between Fenerbahce and Galatasaray in the Turkish top flight. Both clubs surged ahead of the chasing pack, creating a notable 14-point gap over Trabzonspor, currently occupying …

Gianluigi Donnarumma revealed he was unaware Italy had beaten England when making the decisive save on Bukayo Saka s penalty in the Euro 2020 final.

The 22-year-old also kept out Jadon Sancho s attempt from the spot, while Marcus Rashford hit the post, as Italy prevailed 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time at Wembley.

Donnarumma s reaction to saving Saka s attempt was muted, with the goalkeeper calmly walking away before being mobbed by his team-mates.

But he has explained his response to helping Italy clinch their first European Championship crown since 1968 was due to him losing track of the score, rather than being in complete control of his emotions.

I didn t realise we had won, he told Sky Sport Italia. I looked at the referee an…

Kepa Arrizabalaga s adaptation to the demands of goalkeeping in the Premier League has won the approval of Chelsea coach Carlo Cudicini.

Chelsea made Kepa the most expensive keeper in football history when they met an €80million release clause to prise him from Athletic Bilbao in August.

The 24-year-old has been an ever present in the Premier League for Maurizio Sarri s side this term, conceding only 16 times in 21 appearances.

Cudicini, now a member of fellow Italian Sarri s backroom staff, moved to Chelsea from Castel di Sangro in 1999 and went on to play in England s top flight for more than a decade – joining Tottenham in 2009 before departing for LA Galaxy in 2012.

It s kind of the same thing as for Maurizio. Especially for a goalkeeper, the Pre…

South Africa survived a late penalty scare to knock pre-tournament favourites Morocco out of the Africa Cup of Nations and reach the quarter-finals.

Bafana Bafana were the better side and eventually ran out 2-0 winners over the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists – who had Sofyan Amrabat sent off in the closing stages after Achraf Hakimi had missed from the spot.

South Africa won just one group game to reach the knockout stages while Morocco had dominated Group F as they went in search of just a second AFCON title.

Just a bunch of winners standing on Business !!!!

Bring on the Quarter Finals!

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana)

It was Hugo Broos’ side, however, who would hit the front as Evidence Makgopa finished off a flowing move with a…

Liverpool set another goalscoring record with their two first-half goals against Everton in Wednesday s Merseyside derby.

The Reds raced into a two-goal lead inside 19 minutes at Goodison Park thanks to strikes from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah.

In doing so, Liverpool scored at least twice for the 18th match running in all competitions, a streak stretching back to August 28 when drawing 1-1 with Chelsea.

Sunderland previously held the record among English top-flight clubs with a run of two goals or more in 17 straight games in 1927.

2-0 Liverpool are 2-0 up inside 20 minutes in an away game against Everton for only the third time in Premier League history, after December 2005 (17 minutes) and October 2012 (20 minutes). L Oréal.

— OptaJoe…