Leicester’s title hopes are fading, Danny Ings makes his England case and John McGinn’s absence is a huge blow for VillaAt this rate there is every chance two of the Premier League’s deadliest English strikers will not be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad at Euro 2020. Jamie Vardy is unlikely to be tempted out of international retirement and then there is Danny Ings, the Southampton striker who took his tally to 13 goals for the season with a double. Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson may be ahead of Ings in the pecking order but seven goals from his past seven games means it is impossible to ignore the 27-year-old’s credentials for a recall. Ings’s only cap...
Pep Guardiola’s side assert impressively but despite Leicester’s 3-1 loss it is folly to assume the Foxes are fadingWas that it for Leicester, then? As Manchester City washed forward here in smooth waves, slicing them into perfect little triangles, it was tempting to wonder if the Premier League’s outstanding overachievers had finally found their ceiling. Ten points off the lead. Three games without a win. The champions ominously shifting into gear. Liverpool coming next on Boxing Day. A savage clamour! Well may I get aboard! This is the chase: I am gone for ever. [Exit, pursued by José Mourinho’s Tottenham.]At the very least, this was a reminder that for all Leicester’s slender advantage in the table, Pep Guardiola’s side remain...
Leicester will be looking to emulate 2016 at City, Frank Lampard has a special reunion and Freddie Ljungberg signs offUnless Mikel Arteta decides there really is no time like the present and, without even taking a training session, oversees Arsenal’s visit to Goodison Park from the dugout this will be Freddie Ljungberg’s final match in temporary charge. It is easy to feel some sympathy with Ljungberg given that, throughout his five games so far, he has had to operate with no coaching staff to speak of and little certainty about the length of his tenure. Arsenal had made clear upon Unai Emery’s departure that they would be open to giving Ljungberg a run until the end of the season but...
Arsenal can exploit Manchester City’s weakness, Pellegrini in peril and Brighton upbeat for Palace derbyNigel Pearson was introduced to the media at Vicarage Road on Thursday, when he was asked about the reputation he has gained across his career. Towards the end of his time at Leicester one press conference memorably dissolved into an instantly infamous rant – “If you don’t know the answer to that question then I think you are an ostrich” – which sealed his reputation as, frankly, a bit of a grump. “I know I have at times been perceived as difficult to work with, but a lot of that was born out of trying to protect my players,” he said. “I’m a human being, I’m...
While the more deserving await the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award verdict on Sunday night, here is our list of sporting anti-heroes from 2019The Military World Games may have received little publicity in Britain, which is not one of the 140 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe who participate but it was one of the year’s greatest festivals of sport, attracting nearly 10,000 participants to the Chinese city of Wuhan in October. Related: Ben Stokes on pole to take BBC sports personality of the year award Continue reading...