Tottenham face an uphill task in their bid to reach the UEFA Champions League next season but midfielder Christian Eriksen remains hopeful.
Mauricio Pochettino s Tottenham have nine games to erase a six-point deficit after last week s 3-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford dented their Premier League top-four hopes.
But Eriksen insists the feat is not impossible heading into Saturday s match against cellar-dwelling Leicester City, pointing to his successful spell at Ajax, where his first two Eredivisie titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12 came after the Amsterdam club rallied from behind to finish top.
For the first two seasons at Ajax, we played average for the first six months but in the last six months we played really well and that s where we got the points …
Carlos Bacca put aside rumours of a training ground bust-up with Vincenzo Montella by ensuring the AC Milan head coach enjoyed a winning return to Sampdoria in a 1-0 victory.
Reports this week suggested that Bacca had a falling out with Montella and the Colombia international was dropped for Gianluca Lapadula at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
However, Bacca came up trumps off the bench by coolly netting the winner with five minutes remaining to settle Friday s contest.
Bacca, who this week claimed he almost joined Paris Saint-Germain in the transfer window, scored Milan s goal at the end of a flurry of late activity in Genoa.
Sampdoria saw two goals disallowed and the visitors had appeals for a blatant penalty dismissed, while respective goalkeepers Emiliano Vivi…
Kevin Nolan has left West Ham United by mutual consent, .
The midfielder had been at Upton Park for four years, and was a mainstay under former manager Sam Allardyce but is now seeking a new challenge following the appointment of Slaven Bilic, who is looking to move the club in a different direction.
Since signing for the Hammers from Newcastle United in the summer of 2011, Nolan racked up over one hundred and fifty appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring thirty-one goals and was part of the squad that won promotion back to the Premier League in 2012.
He also had two-and-a-half years at Newcastle, after over a decade at Bolton Wanderers while internationally he has two caps for England’s U21s.
His last appearance for West Ham came as …
Craig Bellamy said he would be shocked if Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea did not join Real Madrid in the future.
De Gea, 27, has been the subject of ongoing speculation over a move to Madrid since his transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu sensationally collapsed due to a faulty fax machine in 2015.
The former Atletico Madrid shot-stopper has continued to earn rave reviews in the Premier League, firmly establishing himself as one of the best keepers in the world amid the ongoing rumours of a return to Spain.
Ex-Manchester City and Wales forward Bellamy believes Spain international De Gea – contracted to United until 2019 – will end up at Madrid, who have also been linked with Chelsea s Thibaut Courtois.
He is the real deal and I have always fe…
Chelsea have announced the arrival of Roma full-back Emerson Palmieri.
Emerson is still working his way back to full fitness after a serious knee injury that scuppered the Brazilian-born defender s chances of making an international bow for Italy in May last year.
He is believed to have cost an initial £17.5million and has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract.
The 23-year-old will provide competition for incumbent left-back Marcus Alonso following a move that was facilitated by Kenedy s loan exit to Newcastle United.
Negotiations over a potential double-signing involving Roma striker Edin Dzeko stalled and Chelsea had to settle for a deal that does not include the former Manchester City target man.
Emerson, who began his career at Santos in Bra…
Mohamed Salah moved level with Steven Gerrard as Liverpool s top goalscorer in European Cup and Champions League history on Tuesday.
Salah netted a stunning breakaway goal early in the second half against Atalanta as the Reds tore the Serie A side apart.
That strike, a composed left-footed finish at the end of a rapid burst forward, was the Liverpool number 11 s 21st in the Champions League proper for the club.
Salah therefore tied Gerrard s all-time benchmark.
21 Mohamed Salah has now scored 21 goals for Liverpool in the Champions League, drawing level with Steven Gerrard as the club s highest goalscorer in European Cup/Champions League history. Dizzying.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Salah, who reached the 2018 final in his first season …
Gareth Southgate acknowledged that Jack Grealish is working his way up the England pecking order after another impressive individual performance in Sunday s 2-0 defeat to Belgium.
Grealish was the undoubted highlight for the Three Lions as they saw their hopes of another UEFA Nations League Finals appearance dashed in Leuven.
The Aston Villa man took more touches (76) than any of his fellow England forwards, completed more passes in the opposition half (47) than any other player on the pitch, and won 86 per cent of his 14 duels.
Asked if Grealish had further strengthened his claim for regular England starts as a result, manager Southgate told ITV: Yeah, 100 per cent.
I sort of explained to him what we wanted to see when we brought him in in September.�…
Jurgen Klopp hailed Takumi Minamino as a top character after the Japanese forward fired Liverpool past Norwich City in the EFL Cup.
The Japan forward s two goals, either side of a header from Divock Origi, guided the Reds to a 3-0 win at Carrow Road.
Minamino s influence at Liverpool has not reached the levels some expected it might after he joined from Salzburg in January of last year, and he spent the second half of the 2020-21 season at Southampton.
For now he is back at Liverpool and keen to make an impression, and a smart turn and finish for Liverpool s opening goal was an example of his quality.
A recent minor knock set Minamino back slightly, but he looked sharp against the Canaries as both sides made sweeping personnel changes for the cup clash.
Marcus Rashford is raring to go as he closes on a return to action with Manchester United, according to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Rashford had surgery on a long-standing shoulder injury in July and so has not played for club or country since missing a penalty against Italy for England in the Euro 2020 final.
The striker may be back in the fold after the coming international break, though, when United visit Leicester City.
Amad Diallo has also been out with a thigh issue, which put paid to a planned loan move to Feyenoord.
[Rashford and Amad] are still a few weeks away, so hopefully after the international break they could be available, Solskjaer told United s official website.
Stepping it up one day at a time…
— Marcus Rashford M…
Lewis Hamilton s career at Mercedes did not make the ideal start as he crashed in Formula One pre-season training on Wednesday.
Hamilton – who was the world champion in 2008, one of his six years he spent with McLaren – signed a three-year deal with Mercedes last year.
But the Englishman lasted just 15 laps in his first appearance in the team s new W04 car before crashing due to a braking issue.
Hamilton lost control of the car and it ploughed into a wall, with the damaged vehicle needing to be towed away.
The car had flames coming from it for a short period, but these were unrelated to the crash and came from unburnt fuel after the engine shut off as a preventative measure.
The official reason for the crash was because Hamilton lost rear bra…