Everton manager Frank Lampard is excited to get to work with Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli, adamant the latter can rekindle his best form.

Alli signed for Everton from Tottenham on Monday, with official confirmation coming just under 12 hours after Lampard himself was revealed as their new manager, while Van de Beek arrived on loan from Manchester United having struggled for game time at Old Trafford.

England midfielder Alli has signed on what is initially a free transfer, though the fee will rise to £10million after 20 appearances and perhaps as high as £40m based on performance-related add-ons. He told Sky Sports he just wanted to be happy playing football again after a difficult end to his Spurs career.

Alli burst onto the scene under Mauricio Pochettin…

United keen on Watkins

While Rasmus Hojlund might have impressed many around Old Trafford after completing a £72million move from Atalanta last summer, it appears that Manchester United have another striking option on their wishlist ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

Although Man City record-breaker Erling Haaland might be cruising his way to consecutive Golden Boots, has enjoyed his own remarkable flurry this season and finds his stock at a red-hot high.

Sat firmly in the driving seat to be the deputy to at this summer’s European Championships, the England international has cemented his spot as one of the Premier League’s elite marksmen.

Registering 19 top-flight strikes this season and spearheading Aston Villa’s charge to a famous Champions League return…

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The time has come for the only two teams that have won the Premier League title since 2017/18 to face each other. The time has come for the only team that has so far managed to prevent the other from winning it in that span, and that only once, to host that dominant force in the English game.

On Sunday, Liverpool welcome Manchester City to Anfield, in what will be the 10th round of the season in the English top flight.

Liverpool

After a surprisingly slow start to 2022/23, the mood around the Liverpool campfire has significantly improved since Wednesday, when they returned from Glasgow with a comprehensive victory over Rangers in the Champions League. However, Jurgen Klopp and his men surely won t want to get overconfident in …

February 3, 2020 – In an interview with Catalan publication Sport, sporting director Eric Abidal says the club had begun considering Valverde s future after the 0-0 draw with Real Madrid on December 18. He adds that he and his colleagues identified many players weren t satisfied nor working hard and there was also an internal communication problem .

February 4, 2020 – Messi hits back at Abidal, calling on him to name individuals rather than tar every player with the same brush. Writing on Instagram and highlighting a section of Abidal s quotes, Messi says: I honestly don t like to do these things, but I think everyone has to be responsible for their tasks and take care of their decisions. The players [are responsible for] what happens on the pitch and we are also the firs…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hit out at the farcical situation that could prevent Brazil international Fred from playing for Manchester United this weekend.

United blocked Fred from joining up with his national side for their triple-leader of September World Cup qualifiers due to Brazil being on the United Kingdom s travel red list amid the coronavirus pandemic.

That would mean players having to isolate in a hotel for a minimum of 10 days upon their return, ruling them out for at least three matches.

However, the ​Brazilian Football Confederation has asked FIFA to enforce a law that would block players not released from representing their countries for at least five days.

Should that be the case, Fred will not be available for selection to face Newcastle Un…

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe starred as Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways on the road in Ligue 1 with a tightly contested 3-2 victory at Bordeaux.

Lionel Messi was again absent through injury, though the other two stars of Mauricio Pochettino s deadly attacking trident combined to brilliant effect.

Neymar had not scored from open play in Ligue 1 since doing so against Lens in May, but ended that run with two sublime first-half strikes.

Mbappe – who had teed up Neymar s double – got in on the act midway through the second half to ensure late goals from Alberth Elis and M Baye Niang were not enough for Bordeaux.

It was far from plain sailing for PSG at first, as Bordeaux had the better of the opening exchanges, regularly catching the visitors…

Denzel Dumfries scored his second goal in as many Euro 2020 games as the Netherlands beat Austria 2-0 to qualify for the round of 16 as Group C winners.

The Oranje cruised through with a game to spare on Thursday after Memphis Depay opened the scoring at Johan Cruyff ArenA with an early penalty.

Dumfries opened his international account with a late winner in a 3-2 victory against Ukraine on Sunday and the impressive wing-back sealed all three points again in Amsterdam.

Frank de Boer s side were a cut above a poor Austria side and will face one of the third-placed finishers at the Puskas Arena in Budapest a week on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Netherlands players to score in their first 2 EURO games:

Ruud van Nistelrooy
Denzel D…

Jurgen Klopp might consider the Christmas and New Year programme an impossible task for his stricken Liverpool team, but the Premier League has challenged its clubs to get games on over the coming fortnight.

These games can throw up season-shaping drama, with the packed calendar meaning the stakes are high and stress levels higher, and any manager that chooses to rotate his squad does so at his own risk.

Nobody wants to offer up gifts, despite Santa delivering three goals for Blackburn Rovers in 2007 – Roque Santa Cruz scoring twice in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City on December 27, and adding another in a 2-1 win over Derby County three days later.

Manchester City lead the way in the English top flight this season, ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea.

Th…

Manchester United are going through a tough time. Try as they might, they don t seem able to get back to the top of the game in England, and it has been like that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired from the managerial role in 2013.

Stories have started leaking from the club about the current crop of players being unhappy with some of the coaching, and club icon Gary Neville is unpleasantly surprised by things like that happening at his former club.

I didn t find it funny at all. I thought it was disrespectful. I thought it was disgusting in fact.

Gary Neville assesses the current state at Manchester United and shares his views on the leaked reports of disharmony between the players and the coaching staff

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)

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Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa has joined Argentina s squad for the World Cup in Qatar, after Nicolas Gonzalez was forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury.

Capped 22 times by Argentina, Correa was not selected in Scaloni s initial 26-man squad for the tournament, which kicks off on Sunday, but was among a provisional 55-man list.

Scaloni said on Wednesday that late changes to the squad could be required ahead of their opening game against Saudi Arabia, with FIFA rules allowing changes before a team plays their first match at the tournament.

Fiorentina s Gonzalez suffered a muscle injury in Thursday s training session, Argentina announced, with Correa joining the squad ahead of Tuesday s first game for them in Group C.

Correa has not been a r…