Tottenham to face bitter rivals Arsenal in League Cup third round

Fiorentina defender Juan Manuel Vargas is reportedly being chased by several of Europe s top clubs, inlcuding the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and Inter Milan.

The Peruvian international was rumoured to have already agreed to join La Liga giants Real Madrid in January and was even set to join Los Blancos before signing for Fiorentina in 2008.

The versatile 26-year-old normally plays at left wing back but has excelled at left wing for both club and country, becoming a crucial part of the Viola squad on the left wing with fellow Fiorentina star Alberto Gilardino stating that Vargas was one of the best crossers he has ever played with.

Vargas recently scored the winner against French Ligue 1 side Lyon to secure Fiorentina s place in t…

I have never been entirely convinced by new Aston Villa signing Stewart Downing. He does have a decent left foot and he has done wonders to keep Middlesbrough battling it out in the top league for a few years but I’ve never thought he was an international player.

Track record

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill obviously highly rates the twenty-four year old left winger and he has a pretty good track record with his selection of players. He has signed Downing for £12 million on a four-year deal from Middlesbrough.

He is Villa’s first new signing of the summer and whilst his arrival will have been given a cautious welcome by most Villa fans I guess there must be an element of worry that the excellent Ashley …

Leicester City and Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez has been named as the African Player of the Year by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Mahrez, who played a starring role in Leicester s shock 2015-16 Premier League title triumph, overcame competition from last year s winner, Borussia Dortmund and Gabon star Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, and Liverpool and Senegal forward Sadio Mane.

A total of 361 votes saw Mahrez best Aubameyang s return of 313, while Mane attracted 186 backers in third.

The 25-year-old s latest gong is added to the PFA Player of the Year award he scooped earlier this year.

He contributed a stunning 17 goals and 10 assists to Leicester s glorious Premier League campaign although, much like his team-mates, he has found the going tough…

Tottenham first-team coach Joe Jordan admits his players will have to start practicing their spot kicks more often after another miss consigned them to an FA Cup fifth round replay with Bolton.

When Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen saved Tom Huddlestone s second half penalty to secure a 1-1 draw at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday, it was the fourth penalty out of six this season that had been missed by Spurs.

England forward Jermain Defoe was relieved of the duties after taking his total of misses to six from 10 attempts in the 2-2 FA Cup fourth round draw with Leeds last month.

The only Tottenham player to have converted a penalty this season is Robbie Keane, who scored in the 5-0 win over Burnley and the 4-0 victory over Peterborough but has now joined Celtic…

Jose Gaya has called on Valencia to make further strides as they seek to seal qualification for the Champions League knock-out stages with victory at Gent.

The Liga side will ensure progression to the last 16 if they beat Gent on Wednesday and Lyon fail to claim all three points in their Group H clash with leaders Zenit.

Valencia are second in the group on six points in their first appearance in the Champions League since 2013, with Gent and Lyon both struggling having taken only one point from three games.

Nuno s side have found life more difficult in La Liga after finishing fourth last season, and are five points adrift of the Champions League places 10 games into the campaign.

However, Valencia visit the Ghelamco Arena on the back of a morale-boosti…

Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland will define an era according to Atletico Madrid forward Luis Suarez, who placed him ahead of Paris Saint-Germain sensation Kylian Mbappe.

Haaland continues to take Europe by storm as the Dortmund forward reportedly attracts interest from Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool.

The 20-year-old, who joined Dortmund from Salzburg in January last year, scored twice in Saturday s 2-2 draw away to Cologne – the Norway international taking his tally to 14 away goals in the Bundesliga this season, more than Werder Bremen (13), Hertha Berlin (13), Mainz (11), Arminia Bielefeld (10) and Schalke (eight) have scored at home in 2020-21.

Suarez heaped praise on Haa…

Stuttgart have parted company with manager Bruno Labbadia after just three games of the new Bundesliga season.

Labbadia, 47, took charge at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in December 2010 and had signed a contract extension in January, but he has paid the price for a winless start to the campaign.

Stuttgart scraped past Bulgarian side Botev Plovdiv on away goals in the third qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League and have lost each of their domestic fixtures so far, including Sunday s 2-1 reverse away to Augsburg.

After an indifferent start to the 2012-13 season, Stuttgart recovered to secure a safe mid-table position, while also reaching the final of the DFB-Pokal where they were defeated by Bayern Munich.

Stuttgart opened their Bundesliga season with a 3-2 defeat…

Tyrone Mings has been banned for five matches following his clash with Zlatan Ibrahimovic during Bournemouth s match against Manchester United last Saturday.

The Football Association (FA) confirmed the defender s punishment after an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing on Wednesday, infuriating Bournemouth who are extremely disappointed .

Mings appeared to stamp on Ibrahimovic s head towards the end of the first half and was charged with violent conduct by the FA, who recommended a stronger punishment for Mings when he and the United striker were charged on Monday.

The FA submitted a claim that a standard punishment would be clearly insufficient given the offence.

Bournemouth reacted angrily to the suspension in a statement which read: Bournemouth…

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has stressed he is “more than satisfied” with what he is seeing from his team.

Saturday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium, secured by Rodri’s late equaliser, brought an 11-match winning run in all competitions to an end for City.

The defending champions are third in the table, two points behind second-placed Arsenal and four behind leaders Liverpool ahead of playing their game in hand when hosting Brentford on Tuesday.

The final stats from the Etihad!

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— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Guardiola – whose treble-winners are aiming for a fourth successive league title – told a press conference: “The last five, 10 minutes first half, (and) in the second half, we we…

Stephen Dobbie is keen to extend his loan stay at Blackpool through to the end of the season, .

The 30 year old is in his third spell with the Tangerines having been part of the squads that won promotion to the Premier League in 2010, and reached the play-off final again two years later.

He signed permanently for Crystal Palace by former Blackpool boss Ian Holloway during the summer after enjoying a successful loan period towards the end of last season, but made just one Premier League appearance before again being allowed to go out on loan.

He scored his first goal of the season last weekend, as Paul Ince’s men edge past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground to maintain their position in the top six of the Championship.

back to the top flight af…