Manchester City can turn up the heat on leaders Liverpool with a victory over in-form Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Due largely to their League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League commitments, City have fallen off the pace at the top with Brendan Rodgers side taking full advantage to move four points ahead of the 2011-12 champions.
With just the Premier League left to focus on, manager Manuel Pellegrini can ill-afford any more slip-ups following last Saturday s 1-1 draw at Arsenal.
City, who have also dropped below Chelsea but have two games in hand on the sides above them, meet Liverpool next weekend in a crucial fixture at the top, and Pellegrini will want to head into that game with a win behind them.
With Liverpool not in action until Sunda…
Gareth Bale expressed his surprise after UEFA s Goal of the Season panel overlooked his overhead kick in the Champions League final, joking that the governing body s decision makers want to be sacked .
The goal put Real Madrid 2-1 up against Liverpool in Kiev and Bale scored again in the last 10 minutes of the game to help secure a third consecutive Champions League trophy for his club.
Despite the spectacular nature of his first strike, the panel adjudicating UEFA s Goal of the Season award for 2017-18 opted to shortlist Cristiano Ronaldo s acrobatic goal in the quarter-final victory over Juventus ahead of Bale s goal, with only one nominee from each of the main UEFA competitions allowed on the list.
Bale told the Daily Mail: I don t know how it wasn t on that l…
Thierry Henry accepts his side are in a complicated situation but believes Monaco can take positives from a 2-2 Ligue 1 draw at home against Dijon.
Kamil Glik scored with 12 minutes remaining to salvage a point for Monaco in Saturday s game, but they are only off the bottom of the table on goal difference.
Henry is yet to taste victory in his first job as a head coach, having also overseen a 2-1 loss away to Strasbourg and a 1-1 Champions League draw at Club Brugge.
But despite Monaco s 10-match winless run in Ligue 1 being the club s worst sequence since 1986, Henry preferred to look on the bright side.
The situation is complicated, yes, Henry told a news conference.
Three weeks ago, we could have lost that game too. We reacted. It is also posi…
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended his decision to leave Donny van de Beek on the bench during Manchester United s dramatic 2-1 win over Villarreal in the Champions League.
The Dutch central midfielder was filmed throwing his chewing gum and having to be calmed down by team-mates as Fred and Jesse Lingard were chosen to come on with the scores tied at 1-1 and one minute of normal time remaining at Old Trafford.
The 24-year-old has played just 141 minutes of football this season after being denied the chance to leave the club in the most recent transfer window.
Solskjaer argues, however, that with a squad so stacked full of talent, it is impossible for him to keep everyone happy, and insists that he is satisfied with Van de Beek s professi…
Best Odds: 7/10
Bookmaker:
Knowing that they must collect three points if they re to stand any chance of a stunning late charge for the title, Real Madrid will welcome Villarreal to the capital on Saturday evening.
Real Madrid
Starting with the hosts, while Real Madrid might have managed to land a 1-0 win away at Athletic Bilbao last time out, it appears that it might be too little too late for Los Blancos. Knowing that they need a minor miracle if they re to somehow leapfrog crosstown rivals Atletico on the final weekend, the defending champions open Saturday s finale sat two points adrift of top spot. Crashing out of the Champions League at the hands of Premier League outfit Chelsea earlier in the month, Head Coach Zinedine Zidane faces the prospect of ending…
(GSM) Everton stalwart Johnny Heitinga has dismissed rumours linking him with moves to Wolfsburg and Bayern München.
Reports emanating from Germany have suggested that Wolfsburg and Bayern are eyeing a swoop for the Dutchman during the January transfer window.
Heitinga has established himself as a key member of David Moyes squad since arriving at Goodison Park in the summer of 2009 and Everton are unlikely to be willing to lose the versatile performer.
The 26-year-old admits he is flattered to be linked with Wolfsburg and Bayern, but insists he is not taking the speculation seriously.
Wolfsburg and Bayern? I have heard nothing, Heitinga told voetbal.nl.
Last summer there was interest from Wolfsburg, but not thereafter.
I take that rum…
Napoli beat Juventus at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday in the 27th round of the Serie A season by 2-1.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring for the home side with a fine volley in the 42nd minute, and when Federico Chiesa restored parity in the 81st, it seemed the Old Lady would return to Turin with a point. However, a reckless tackle from Juventus substitute Joseph Nonge on Victor Osimhen resulted in a penalty for Napoli, and after Wojciech Szczesny saved the Nigerian s spot-kick, Giacomo Raspadori was the quickest to react and win the game for his team.
The game
Napoli mostly dominated and kept the ball in the opposition half from the start, finishing the game with 71% of possession, but in the first period of the contest they were actually lucky not…
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has urged Ryan Shawcross to focus on maintaining his club form, suggesting an international recall from England boss Roy Hodgson remains highly unlikely.
The 28-year-old centre-back made his first appearance of the season last month following back surgery and has fitted seamlessly back into Stoke s side.
However, Shawcross sole international appearance came in the 4-2 defeat to Sweden in 2012 and Hughes does not anticipate Shawcross earning a recall ahead of Euro 2016.
Ryan Shawcross has had a long-term injury that he s just come back from and he s getting up to speed with things, the Welshman told reporters.
From the first time he came back against Chelsea he s been outstanding. He certainly has the ambitions to get int…
AFC Champions League winners Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao are out to make history at the Club World Cup, looking to become the first ever Asian club to make the final.
The Chinese Super League champions are arguably the strongest ever team from Asia to compete in the tournament, but face a tough quarter-final test in CONCACAF Champions League winners America.
Guangzhou are led by World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and boast the likes of Paulinho, Robinho, Elkeson and Ricardo Goulart in their squad.
Paulinho, who was bought from Tottenham for €14million, was part of the Corinthians squad that upset Chelsea in the final in 2012.
But the midfielder knows their quarter-final against America will be a tough game first up.
This is obviously …
Verdict: Southampton
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Hull City travel to St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon to take on Southampton in the Premier League. The Tigers will need to address their dreadful away record if they want to move further away from the relegation zone.
Southampton
Southampton have been suffering with a season of transition since Ronald Koeman and Saido Mane left the club last summer and have failed to set the campaign alight. This was especially evident in the Europa League where they were disappointingly eliminated in the group stages. However, they did manage to reach the League cup final, eventually losing to Manchester United, and in Manolo Gabbiadini, they have found a player who gives them hope for next year. The striker has scored six …