Lille part ways with head coach Gourvennec

Nice returned to the top of Ligue 1 after Valentin Eysseric s strike against his former club sealed a 1-0 win at Saint-Etienne.

Eysseric, who spent last season on loan with Saint-Etienne, scored the winner on 63 minutes, firing a left-footed strike into the top corner after Jordan Veretout had lost possession in a dangerous area for the hosts.

Nice s victory which came without the suspended Mario Balotelli and injured captain Paul Baysse sees them restore a three-point gap over Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the top after both of their title rivals had won their games.

Lucien Favre s men had suffered their first league defeat of the season away to Caen last time out and avoided losing two straight league games – something they have not done since April 2015.…

A serious-looking injury to Luca Antonelli marred a difficult game for AC Milan as they were beaten 1-0 by Udinese on Sunday.

Stipe Perica struck in the 88th minute to snatch all three points for the visitors and end a run of nine away games against Milan without a win.

Vincenzo Montella s side were looking to bounce back from a 4-2 loss to Napoli last month, but were unable to test Orestis Karnezis in the Udinese goal sufficiently despite dominating possession at a stifling San Siro.

A disappointing result was marred by a worrying moment involving Antonelli, who was carried off following lengthy treatment on the pitch after he took a hit at a corner.

Jose Sosa came closest for Milan, striking the crossbar from 18 yards, but they struggled to fashion serv…

Julian Nagelsmann appeared to confirm reports he is not a candidate to become Chelsea s new head coach.

Nagelsmann was surprisingly sacked by Bayern Munich last month, with Thomas Tuchel replacing him as the Bavarian giants try to fend off Borussia Dortmund s challenge for their Bundesliga title.

Having won plenty of admirers during successful spells with Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig before leading Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season, Nagelsmann was immediately touted as a potential permanent successor to Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge.

Nagelsmann reportedly held talks with Chelsea over taking the job at the end of the campaign, but widespread reports on Friday suggested he had withdrawn from the running.

Asked about those reports by Sky Sports in …

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Knowing that they must turn around the deficit on Thursday night, Tottenham will welcome Paços Ferreira to North London for the second-leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier.

Tottenham

Starting with the hosts, shocking many across Europe as they were hit with that 1-0 loss out in Portugal last week, there is no doubt that Tottenham would have been glad to make an immediate return to winning ways. With new boss Nuno Espírito Santo taking his squad to former employers Wolves on Sunday afternoon, the North London outfit picked up a 1-0 win on the road, despite being heavily outplayed in the Midlands. Opening up the 2021/22 campaign with back-to-back Premier League victories after that stunning 1-0 win against defending Premier…

CSKA Moscow has emerged as a strong contender to acquire Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda of VVV Venlo, reportedly outbidding Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven, media reports say.

The Russian outfit has set aside an estimated six million euros (8.6 million dollars) as the transfer fee for the 23-year-old, the Sports Nippon newspaper said.

Dutch giants PSV and Ajax are still seen as among the most likely buyers of the Japanese star, who has previously suggested Liverpool was interested in him, but the newspaper said CSKA s offer was more attractive than PSV s.

Honda recently told reporters that he has a new team in mind, after reviewing several offers.

I have to make my decision within the next few days, the Nikkan Sports quoted him as saying after a pract…

Portsmouth have sent a legal letter to the English Premier League over their transfer embargo and withholding of television rights revenues, the beleaguered club s chief executive Peter Storrie said.

Pompey s seven million pound (11.4 million dollar, 7.9 million euro) share of the latest payment of television income is being diverted by the EPL to clubs they owe money to over unpaid transfer deals.

The division s bottom team are unable to sign new players during the January transfer window because of an embargo placed upon them by the league.

The club are on the verge of trying to force the Premier League to relax the restrictions so they can bring in loan players to Fratton Park.

I can confirm we have issued a legal letter to the Premier League to dema…

Young striker Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick as Everton hammered Swiss side Youngs Boys 4-1 in the last 32 of the Europa League

I asked the question could the Europa League be Everton’s saving grace this season in an editorial a few days ago.

If the Toffees 4-1 away win at Swiss side Young Boys on Thursday night is anything to go by then it could very well be.

Fortress

Strangely Everton were considered favourites to win in Switzerland, despite the fact Young Boys had won all three of their group games at the Stade de Suisse without conceding a goal.

The Swiss side had not lost a European game on home soil since Liverpool defeated them in 2012.

In fact the Swiss side had won all seven of their previous home games in the Europa League, …

Martin Odegaard seals a loan move to Heerenveen / Image via sc-heerenveen.nl

End of Frustration

Dutch side SC Heerenveen have who comes on loan until the end of the season.

The teenage midfielder, once touted as the hottest prospect in world football, is ending a frustrating spell with Los Blancos with hopes to make progress towards fulfilling his glorious potential.

The youngest-ever player to play for Real Madrid at the age of 16 years and 157 days has failed to hold down a regular spot under Zinedine Zidane and a move away from Los Blancos is widely regarded as a well-thought choice and an overdue one as well which could help youngster develop into a quality footballer.

Odegaard first hit the big stage when his prodigious talents saw him being compa…

LaLiga s request to postpone the upcoming match between Sevilla and Barcelona due to player involvement in South American World Cup qualifiers has been dismissed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), but a challenge will be lodged. 

An appeal was issued by LaLiga to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the decision taken by FIFA to put in place a two-day extension to the CONMEBOL calendar for fixtures in September and October, a move made amid the complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Due to strict rules that would require players to quarantine for 10 days upon their return, England s Premier League refused to release nearly 60 players travelling to 26 countries on the United Kingdom s red list due to COVID-19. 

LaLiga annou…

Dean Smith admitted he did not see Leicester’s poor first-half performance coming as they were beaten 5-3 by Fulham at Craven Cottage to plunge them deeper into relegation trouble.

The visitors were overrun before the break by Marco Silva’s side, with Leicester – porous and disorganised in defence – allowing Fulham to rip into them and build a three-goal lead by half-time.

Willian and Tom Cairney both hit braces either side of the interval whilst Carlos Vinicius also netted to affirm the home side’s dominance, with two second-half goals from Harvey Barnes and a James Maddison penalty lending a respectability to the score that did not reflect Leicester’s frailties.

It leaves Smith’s side in serious danger of being relegated from the Premier League wi…