Drogba linked with Blues return

Mauricio Pochettino has signed a new five-year contract at Tottenham to end speculation over his future.

The 44-year-old left Southampton to take charge of Spurs in May 2014 and has now agreed fresh terms, tying him to the club until 2021.

After Tottenham finished fifth in his first season, Pochettino will secure a second-place Premier League finish with at least a point in their final match of 2015-16 at Newcastle United.

The ex-Espanyol boss was linked with replacing Louis van Gaal at Manchester United – speculation fuelled by a recent meeting with former Old Trafford manager, and current director, Alex Ferguson – but he has now signed a contract that he announced was agreed last month.

I could not be happier to sign this new contract, said Pochett…

Norway manager Stale Solbakken joked that if Jack Grealish could train for England then he has no cause to worry about Erling Haaland’s treble celebrations ahead of Saturday’s clash with Scotland.

Solbakken understood the need for Haaland to revel in his success with Manchester City after last weekend’s Champions League final.

Solbakken has taken it easy with Haaland this week, more concerned with ensuring the striker recharges, and believes a homecoming welcome will lift his star man during the Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo.

City celebrated in Ibiza after their Istanbul success against Inter before continuing the party on a bus parade in Manchester on Monday with Grealish throwing himself wholeheartedly into the fun.

When asked what the Norwegian peo…

Georgia boss Willy Sagnol feels all the pressure is on Scotland in Tuesday night’s 2024 European Championship qualifier at Hampden Park.

The Scots go into the game top of Group A and with nine points from a possible nine following their dramatic 2-1 comeback win over Norway in Oslo on Saturday.

Georgia are five points behind after their 2-1 win over Cyprus on the same day but have played a game less.

Sagnol believes Scotland have to cope with the expectations of victory over the Georgians, who have lost twice in two visits to Glasgow.

“I just have to say congratulations for winning their first three games,” said the 46-year-old former Bayern Munich and France full-back, who described a chance meeting with First Minister Humza Yousaf earlier in the d…

Verdict: Real Madrid – Draw no Bet

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Reigning European champions play host to French giants Paris Saint-Germain in one of the biggest Champions League Last 16 ties which is set to bring about plenty of excitement both on and off the pitch.

Real Madrid

With Catalan giants, Barcelona running away with the La Liga title – despite a couple of latest setbacks of their own – Real Madrid face a difficult battle to save their season. Los Blancos’ only chance of winning silverware this campaign is the Champions League where they will need to make a historic success of defending the title to make a big point to the world.

Real Madrid are out of the Copa del Rey and sit 17 huge points behind Barcelona in the league table. The c…

Gianfranco Zola has denied reports he will move to former club Chelsea next season as an assistant to proposed new coach Maurizio Sarri.

Incumbent Antonio Conte has regularly indicated he intends to see out his Blues contract, which runs to 2019, but a substandard Premier League title defence may deny the Italian the opportunity.

With Napoli flying high at the top of Serie A, outspoken coach Sarri has been tipped to succeed Conte at Stamford Bridge.

Reports in Italy have indicated Zola, who played for Chelsea between 1996 and 2003, winning two FA Cups, would return to west London as Sarri s assistant.

But Zola out of work since leaving Birmingham City in April 2017 denied he and Sarri have been approached about moving to Chelsea at the end of the season.…

A fifth-successive win sent Omiya Ardija top of the J League on Friday, as they comfortably disposed of Kashiwa Reysol 4-0.

Last week s victory over local rival Urawa Reds was their 18th without defeat, a new J League record.
And the comprehensive victory in Kashiwa was enough for them to leapfrog Yokohama F Marinos, into top spot.
Omiya, who remain the only unbeaten side in the J League this season, started brightly against the 2011 champions.
And the positive start was rewarded in the 19th minute when Milivoje Novakovic tapped home to round off a swift counter attack.
The lead was doubled just before half time through Shohei Takahashi the 21-year-old poking in after a short corner found its way into the area.
Kashiwa Reysol have endured a mixed start to the campaign both dom…

Best Odds: 13/8

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Looking to cause a real upset this weekend, a high-flying Southampton welcome Manchester City to St. Mary s on Saturday afternoon.

Southampton

Starting with the hosts, while Southampton would have been disappointed to have only picked up a point away at a 10-man Arsenal earlier in the week, the Saints have continued on a real Premier League romp this season. Although Ralph Hasenhüttl s men might have opened the 2020/2021 campaign with back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and Tottenham, the one-time RB Leipzig boss has seen his side bounce back in remarkable fashion. Now losing just one of their last 11 top-flight contests and with the mood in their camp likely to still be at a real high, fans around St. Mary s find their side …

Prediction: Barcelona to win 2-1

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Real Sociedad and Barcelona will face each other in La Liga this weekend. The match will be held at the Anoeta Stadium and is scheduled to kick off at 9pm UK time on Saturday.

Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad are sixth in the La Liga table at the moment with three points from one match. La Real kicked off their 2022-23 La Liga campaign with a 1-0 win against Cadiz away from home in the league. Takefusa Kubo scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute.

Sociedad finished sixth in the La Liga table last season. For a while it looked like the Basque club would end up in the UEFA Champions League places, but eventually they could only clinch in a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

La …

Michael O Neill will call upon his experience of attempting to shackle Cristiano Ronaldo when Northern Ireland face Gareth Bale and Wales in the last-16 of Euro 2016.

Wales are favourites to progress from this Battle of Britain in Paris, largely down to the supreme capabilities of Bale the Real Madrid star having scored three goals in as many games on the way to securing top spot in Group B.

O Neill twice pitted his wits against Ronaldo during qualification for the 2014 World Cup, leaving Bale s club team-mate goalless on his 100th cap a 1-1 draw in Porto before being on the receiving end of a hat-trick in a 4-2 Belfast loss.

Gareth Bale s a huge player for Wales, he s shown that in the tournament already and he s shown that in qualification, O Neill told a pre-…

Steve Harper has called on Hull City s owners to hand Mike Phelan the manager s job on a permanent basis after their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.

Phelan took temporary control at the KCOM Stadium after Steve Bruce resigned three weeks before the start of the campaign due to frustrations at the lack of transfer activity at the club.

A host of names were linked with the role, including Gianfranco Zola and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez, however an appointment was not forthcoming, leaving Phelan – Bruce s assistant – to start the season in charge.

Goals from Adama Diomande and Robert Snodgrass gave Phelan a winning start as champions Leicester City were beaten 2-1 on the opening weekend, and the 53-year-old made it two from two with Saturday s 2-…