Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be looking for his team to bounce back from consecutive defeat s

With Arsenal having lost two crucial games in a week, it’s a bad time to be facing your Premier League bogey team three days later. However, that’s the reality for the much-maligned Gunners, who can’t afford anything less than a win against Swansea City to stand a chance in the title-race.

Arsenal once again in poor form approaching Spring

Arsenal were comfortably beaten 2-0 at home by Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 last Tuesday, and followed up the poor result with a 3-2 defeat against an injury-hit Manchester United side in the Premier League. Supporters and pundits have since been critical of the club and manager, and Arsenal desp…

Mauricio Pochettino insists he is determined to win silverware with Tottenham and is not satisfied merely with securing regular Champions League qualification.

Spurs have finished third or second in each of the previous three Premier League seasons, leaving the team increasingly familiar with UEFA s elite continental competition.

The north London side were runners-up behind Chelsea in 2016-17 and pushed Leicester City throughout much of the Foxes surprise title-winning campaign in 2015-16, before falling away in the final weeks.

And former Espanyol and Southampton boss Pochettino has rejected suggestions the club is content to retain a place in the top four.

If some people believe the manager of Tottenham doesn t want to win they are not right in their m…

According to reports in Italy, Miralem Pjanic has reached an agreement to join Barcelona from Juventus this summer in a swap deal.

A midfielder capable of performing in any role between the back four and the attacking line, the 30-year-old arrived to Turin from AS Roma in 2016 for just over €30 million. Since then, he has made a total of 167 appearances in the black-and white shirt, scoring 22 goals and laying on 36 assists. He has also helped them win the Serie A three times, as well as the Coppa Italia twice.

With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic causing extreme financial uncertainty for all clubs across Europe, Corriere dello Sport claim Barcelona are looking for a swap deal with Juventus, rather than paying a considerable transfer fee. Players tipped to move in the o…

Barcelona won the Women s Champions League for the first time as a freak early own goal helped them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea.

Melanie Leupolz inadvertently put the ball past her own goalkeeper after just 35 seconds, and a penalty from Alexia Putellas followed by strikes from Aitana Bonmati and Caroline Graham Hansen had Barcelona four goals clear before half-time.

English champions Chelsea were expected to pose a major threat to the Barcelona goal, but key forwards Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr had an off night in Gothenburg.

Barcelona were able to cruise through the second half and become Spain s first winners of the competition, putting a 4-1 defeat to Lyon in the 2019 final firmly behind them.

 Introducing the new champions

Congratulations, Barce…

Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford ended personal goal droughts with second-half strikes as Manchester United put wasteful Brentford to the sword in a 3-1 Premier League win on Wednesday.

Ralf Rangnick s men threw away a two-goal lead away to Aston Villa on Sunday but they managed to avoid repeating the feat in what was their first league meeting with Brentford since 1947.

United were indebted to David de Gea – and Brentford s unimpressive finishing – in a first half that the home side largely dominated, but the Red Devils improved significantly after the interval.

Two goals seven minutes apart left Brentford deflated and Rashford added to their misery, with Ivan Toney s late strike a mere consolation.

Amid an early Brentford flurry, De Gea cruciall…

Western Sydney Wanderers ended their long derby drought and moved three points clear atop the A-League with a controversial 1-0 win over Sydney FC on Saturday.

Mitchell Duke s thumping 19th-minute header from Daniel Georgievski s cross proved enough for the Wanderers to claim their first victory over the Sky Blues since February 2017.

Markus Babbel s men attempted half the number of shots as their rivals and briefly looked to have succumbed to an equaliser in the second half.

Kosta Barbarouses met Brandon O Neill s corner with a glancing header that bounced off the right post and appeared to dribble over the line, but the match officials waved play on and VAR decided against overruling the decision due to inconclusive replays.

Barbarouses let two chance…

Germany have returned to the top of FIFA s rankings after their World Cup triumph in Brazil.

Joachim Low s side have sat second behind Spain for all but one month since April 2012, but their Maracana success last Sunday puts them back to the top of the rankings for the first time since June 1994.

Beaten finalists Argentina climbed three places to sit just behind the Germans in second.

Spain had led the way in every year since the side s 2008 UEFA European Championship triumph, but they slip to eighth after a disastrous World Cup campaign that saw them exit at the group stage.

Netherlands rose 12 spots to return to the top three for the first time in two years and Costa Rica s own 12-place jump leaves them in their best position in 16th.

Colombia a…

Serge Gnabry faces a period on the sidelines after suffering a fractured forearm in Bayern Munich’s 4-0 DFB Pokal win at Preussen Munster.

The 28-year-old fell awkwardly in an early challenge and was substituted shortly after Eric Choupo-Moting fired the Bundesliga champions into a ninth minute lead.

Bayern later revealed the extent of Gnabry’s injury on their social media accounts, writing: “Serge Gnabry is confirmed to have suffered a fracture of the ulna in his left forearm.. following an X-ray examination during the match.”

Serge Gnabry suffered a fracture of the ulna in his left forearm during the cup match against Preußen Münster.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Serge!

— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN)

Bayern boss Thomas …

Racing Club president Victor Blanco is confident of sealing the signing of Inter striker Diego Milito.

The Argentine started his career with the Avellaneda-based outfit, who compete in the Primera Division in his homeland, and despite signalling his intent to extend his contract at San Siro earlier in the season, could now be on the verge of a return to his former club.

Blanco revealed talks had already taken place over a potential transfer.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a meeting here in Milan, Blanco is quoted as saying by Gianlucadimarzio.com. We spoke and we are confident that Diego will return.

The fans at Racing are waiting for him.

We will reconvene soon, once the league season has finished.

Milito won Serie A with Inter in 2009-10 and has scored …

Joel Obi scored his first Serie A goal to rescue a 1-1 derby draw for Inter against Milan in Roberto Mancini s first match back in charge.

Former Manchester City boss Mancini was confirmed as Walter Mazzarri s successor during the international break marking his return to the club he left in 2008.

Mancini won three Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia crowns in his four-your spell at the Inter helm, but he failed to get his latest tenure off to a winning start at San Siro on Sunday.

Despite applying the early pressure, Inter found themselves a goal down after 23 minutes when Jeremy Menez volleyed home superbly from 12 yards.

Inter struggled in their push for an equaliser, but eventually got back on terms shortly after the hour mark Obi driving a low effort…