Arsenal must not take anything for granted in their bid to qualify for the Champions League, according to Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners face Watford this weekend and sit sixth in the table, but with three games in hand over both Manchester United and West Ham.
Coupled with a more favourable run-in, on paper at least, Arsenal are arguably the favourites to seal a top-four berth come the end of the season.
However, Arteta has stressed his team will take it step-by-step.
I think it s positive because that s where we want to be playing, Arteta told his pre-match press conference on Friday. The reality is we are not fourth but sixth still.
We have to win those games. We know what we have to do. There s a long way to go and the only aim is to win agai…
Germany coach Joachim Low says his world champions do not fear any of their potential opponents at Euro 2016 ahead of Saturday s draw in Paris.
Hosts France and 23 qualifiers will find out their group rivals for the competition this weekend, with Germany among those heavily fancied to be as frontrunners.
Semi-finalists at Euro 2012, Germany won the World Cup in Brazil last year and are among the top seeds along with France, European champions Spain, England, Portugal and Belgium.
Germany s team manager Oliver Bierhoff will help conduct the draw, alongside the likes of Ruud Gullit, Bixente Lizarazu, Vicente del Bosque, Antonin Panenka and David Trezeguet. And Low says he has no special requests for Bierhoff in terms of who they draw.
Oliver did we…
England passed up the chance to progress to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 with a game to spare as they were pegged back to a 1-1 draw by Denmark in Frankfurt.
Harry Kane s goal in the 18th minute had eased the early Three Lions nerves, only for Morten Hjulmand to take aim from distance and fire beyond Jordan Pickford.
Yet bar the move for Kane s opener, England s performance was deeply lacklustre, and Gareth Southgate may well face scrutiny, even though the Three Lions remain in pole position in Group C.
Denmark, who looked the more likely to win it in the second half, sit second, ahead of Slovenia and Serbia, who drew in Thursday s earlier match.
There were calls for concern early on in the contest as Kyle Walker was the first to succumb to a choppy …
Derek McInnes was thrilled after his Kilmarnock side edged closer to securing European football with a confident victory over St Johnstone.
Killie deservedly took the lead midway through the first half when Joe Wright turned home Liam Polworth’s pin-point delivery – and the visitors were denied on multiple occasions to extend their advantage by the heroics of Dimitar Mitov.
The game was settled with nine minutes remaining after Marley Watkins tapped home his 13th goal of the season.
Kilmarnock have extended their advantage in fourth place to eight points, with just five games remaining.
“I thought first half we were very good,” McInnes said.
“Coming away from home, we tried to impose ourselves. We spoke throughout the week about the impo…
This might be the perfect time to play Paris Saint-Germain, or it could be the worst possible time to face them.
It s been a chaotic week for the Ligue 1 champions, with rumours of in-fighting, betrayal, and possible walkouts.
Kylian Mbappe apparently wants out, and that in turn led to speculation about the possibility of football consultant Luis Campos and head coach Christophe Galtier departing as well.
Everyone remains for the time being and they must all now turn their attention to Sunday s game, Le Classique.
Victory for Marseille will move them level on 26 points with PSG – victory for the Parisians at the Parc des Princes will likely have many already declaring them champions again even after just 11 games.
A rival emerging?
Throu…
Lucy Bronze says England have youngsters in their Women’s World Cup squad that are “exciting and fearless”.
The starting line-up for Saturday’s 0-0 warm-up draw with Portugal at Stadium MK included Manchester City 22-year-old Esme Morgan in a central defence missing regular captain Leah Williamson, ruled out of the tournament by an ACL injury, and stand-in skipper Millie Bright as she continues to build her fitness.
There was also a start in attack for Chelsea’s Lauren James, 21, while 20-year-old Brighton forward Katie Robinson came off the bench for the European champions in the second half.
Right-back Bronze said: “The younger players who are the least experienced, Robbo, LJ and Esme, I thought all of them did really well.
“They grew into…
Asked about the contribution of a man whose future at one point looked to lie away from St James’ Park, Howe said: “He’s someone who is the ultimate professional. He’s reliable, plays multiple positions and has never let me down.
“For me, it’s all about consistency. What you’re looking for from the players’ perspective is that they turn up every day and give their best.
“Now, you’re going to have some good days and you’re going to have some bad days. I always say that the key response is how you handle the bad days.
“Before I came here, Jacob had some difficult moments, but you have to keep coming back.
“You have to be really resilient, you have to keep turning up, and I believe that if you do the right things off the pitch, then…
Atletico Madrid failed to make up any significant ground on LaLiga s top three as their struggles continued with a 1-1 draw at Almeria.
Diego Simeone s side have often struggled in this part of Andalusia and so that proved again on Sunday, despite Angel Correa s 18th-minute opener.
Atleti would have been two in front if not for Geoffrey Kondogbia, who got a touch to Marcos Llorente s goal-bound effort for the strike to be ruled out for offside.
El Bilal Toure headed in soon after and Almeria saw out a draw that leaves fourth-placed Atleti, who had Sergio Reguilon sent off late on, 13 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
|
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN)
Atleti took the lead after Antoine Griezmann dummied Kondogbia s pass for Correa to …
A top football club could end up with a rebuilt version of the London 2012 Games Olympic stadium, media reports said on Thursday.
Officials overseeing the organisation of the event are considering demolishing the 525 million pounds (950 million dollars) stadium and rebuilding one which could be used by a Premier League football team.
Planners believe that may be a more attractive financial proposition than subsidising future use as an athletics venue.
West Ham would be a club ideally placed to move in and would be interested if they could be given the kind of deal which enabled Manchester City to move into the Commonwealth Games stadium used at those games in 2002, the Press Association (PA) reported.
PA said one top official mulling the stadium s fu…
France 3-0 Scotland: Five things we learned as Euro 2016 hosts cruise to victory over Strachan’s men
France impress vs Scotland / Image via channelnewsasia.com
Didier Dechamps’ men have recorded their fourth consecutive victory with a 3-0 win over Scotland on Saturday night in a game which was the perfect introduction to the 2016 European Championship finals that are just days away.
France turned on style to cruise over Scotland in their final warm-up game in Metz and Les Bleus head into the continental championship in high spirits.
Here are the 5 things we learned from tonight’s match:
France firm favourites to win EURO 2016
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud scored a brace for France having opened the scorings with a near-post back-heel flick after eight minutes, while he added another when he followed up Dimitri Payet’s shot after 35 minutes in th…