Real Madrid potentially paired with history-making Sounders in Club World Cup draw

Arsenal must show they can handle the pressure of being Premier League title favourites , according to Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte.

Mikel Arteta s side head into Sunday s North London derby top of the table having won 14 of their 17 games.

But the Gunners dropped points in a goalless draw with Newcastle United last week, and with closest challengers Manchester City playing Manchester United on Saturday, Arsenal s lead could be cut to just two points by the time they step out onto the pitch at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

Conte is no stranger to title races, having lifted five top-flight crowns during his managerial career, including the 2016-17 Premier League while in charge of Chelsea.

He warned Arsenal that, despite their fantastic st…

Jose Mourinho does not believe Tottenham are heading into an easier run of Premier League fixtures after a string of tough encounters with fellow big six sides.

Spurs faced Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in successive top-flight games across November and December, taking seven points in the process, before facing Liverpool after a trip to Crystal Palace.

Mourinho s side followed a defeat to the Premier League champions by losing against Leicester City – who finished fifth last season – on Sunday, leaving them sixth in the table and six points off top.

The back-to-back reverses mean Spurs are in danger of losing three straight Premier League games for the first time since November 2012 under Andre Villas-Boas.

But although four of Spurs next fiv…

Jose Mourinho has revealed Christian Eriksen informed him he would be leaving on the day he started his reign as Tottenham manager.

Eriksen, who signed for Spurs in 2013, ended his stay in north London earlier this week when he signed for Serie A giants Inter.

The Denmark midfielder, who made his Inter debut in a 2-1 Coppa Italia win over Fiorentina on Wednesday, refused to sign a new contract at Tottenham and only had six months remaining on his deal.

Mourinho has acknowledged Eriksen was playing like a man without motivation during the last few months of his Tottenham stay, though insisted there were no doubts over the 27-year-old s professionalism.

We didn t tell because of a moral agreement with Christian, but from the first day I arrived [last Novem…

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Desperate to open this year s World Cup adventure with a statement in Doha, England will open their Group B campaign with a showdown against Iran on Monday afternoon.

England

Starting with England, while the Three Lions might have signed off their pre-World Cup preparations with an action-packed 3-3 draw at home against Germany, Gareth Southgate does find a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders. Shockingly losing their elite Nations League status during September s international break, the 2018 semi-finalists also failed to win any of their six League A showdowns. Enduring their longest winless run since 1993, England will be desperate to open their Middle Eastern adventure with a statement in Doha. Still tipped as a landslide pic…

Kylian Mbappe matched a 64-year World Cup record set by Brazil great Pele after bagging a brace in France s 3-1 victory over Poland in Sunday s last-16 tie.

On the day team-mate Olivier Giroud passed Thierry Henry to become France s all-time top goalscorer, team-mate Mbappe continued to burnish his own legacy.

With his two goals – both excellent strikes delivered with poise through a strained Polish defence – Mbappe has further written his name into World Cup history at Qatar 2022.

He now has five goals in the knockout stages of the competition, when factoring in the three he netted for the tournament winners at Russia 2018.

At 23 years and 349 days, it makes him the youngest player to reach that number after Brazil legend Pele, who bagged as many dur…

Speaking in an exclusive interview to , Daniel Sturridge has revealed he aims to return to the Premier League.

The former England international striker played for Manchester City first and then for Chelsea, but he really made his name after joining Liverpool in January 2013. He was for a while among the most prolific goalscorers of the English top flight, but numerous injuries severely limited his game time for a large part of his six-year stint at Anfield, and he spent the second half of 2017/18 on loan at West Bromwich Albion. In the end, he left the club with 68 goals and 26 assists to his name from 160 games and the 2019 Champions League trophy.

He joined Trabzonspor that summer, but he was released in March this year due to a four-month ban for a breach of gambling…

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Simply looking to finish off the job and extend on their Champions League qualifying adventure on Tuesday night, Hacken will travel to Wales when they meet The New Saints.

The New Saints

Starting with the hosts, putting in a nightmare first-leg performance on foreign soil last week as they eventually slumped to a routine 3-1 loss out in Sweden, Craig Harrison’s men will know that they face a major uphill battle here. While the Welsh giants might have breezed their way to another domestic crown last season, TNS certainly failed to find much stability during their summer run. Suffering a pair of friendly defeats at the hands of Cardiff and Hamilton during their pre-season preparations earlier in the month, the Welsh giants are trying t…

Jurgen Klopp has done exceptional work in leading Liverpool to the Premier League title, according to Bayern Munich head coach Hansi Flick.

The Reds first domestic championship in 30 years was confirmed on Thursday when Manchester City s 2-1 loss to Chelsea left Liverpool with an unassailable 23-point lead with seven games remaining.

It represents Klopp s third top-flight title in his coaching career after he led Borussia Dortmund to back-to-back championships in 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Bayern have won each of the eight titles since and Flick – the man who guided them to their most recent one this season – is full of admiration for Klopp s work on Merseyside.

We know each other and it is completely normal that you congratulate one another, said Flic…

Manchester City kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 2-0 home victory against Newcastle United.

Arsenal won their game in hand in midweek to increase their advantage at the top to five points, but it was back to two ahead of their game on Saturday as City responded again.

Phil Foden s first-half goal continued his rich vein of form, although City needed a second from substitute Bernardo Silva to make sure.

It was a familiar tale for a fading Newcastle side, firmly in the game but unable to take their chances and suddenly looking a little vulnerable at the back.

City could have been in front in the opening minute when Ilkay Gundogan headed over from a Jack Grealish cross, but the opening goal instead came from the opposite flank af…

West Ham United are interested in signing Domenico Berardi from Sassuolo in the summer transfer window, according to . It has been reported that the Hammers have lodged an enquiry about signing the 26-year-old winger.

Berardi joined Sassuolo on a permanent contract in 2015 after a loan spell from Juventus. The Italy international winger had actually joined Juve from Sassuolo, but could not make a massive impact at the former Italian champions. The 26-year-old has been superb over the years and helped Italy win Euro 2020 this summer.

The winger 17 goals and gave seven assists in 30 Serie A matches for Sassuolo last season. During the 2019-20 campaign, Berardi scored 14 goals and gave 10 assists in 31 league games. In 2018-19, the winger scored eight goals and gave four …