Sports

Best Odds: 5/4

Bookmaker:

Desperate to build off of their Boxing Day success over the weekend, Arsenal will make the trip to the Amex on Tuesday evening when they face off against a struggling Brighton.

Brighton

Starting with the hosts, while Brighton might have taken the lead twice away at a lackluster West Ham over the weekend, it was another disappointing afternoon for the Seagulls. Eventually settling for a late 2-2 draw in East London, Graham Potter s side still find themselves firmly looking over their shoulder at the drop zone. With some around the South Coast even questioning the former Swansea bosses position in the Amex dugout, Brighton have drawn their last three Premier League contests on the bounce, dropping points against the Hammers, Fulham, and …

Antonio Conte admits squad rotation will be crucial as Tottenham prepare for the first of seven matches in the space of 20 days.

Spurs are aiming to build on their positive start to the Premier League season when they travel to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, having collected seven points from their opening three games.

Conte bolstered his squad ahead of the campaign with the likes of Ivan Perisic, Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Djed Spence all arriving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And the Italian knows that strength in depth will be essential for Tottenham, who also face West Ham, Fulham, Manchester City and Leicester City in the Premier League between now and September 17.

The north London side will also play the first two matches of their Champions …

Frank Lampard has been excused from reporting back for pre-season training with Derby County as he continues to thrash out a deal with Chelsea.

Former Blues midfielder Lampard was given permission to speak to Chelsea last Tuesday as the Premier League club seek a replacement for Maurizio Sarri, who has joined Juventus.

The 41-year-old took his first step into coaching with Derby in 2018-19 and came within one win of guiding the club to Premier League promotion as they lost to Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final.

Derby s players returned to pre-season training on Monday but Lampard was not there to oversee it.

A club statement read: Derby County Football Club has excused Frank Lampard from reporting back for pre-season training on Monday an…

Jurgen Klopp is unsure how long Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be sidelined but says the Liverpool midfielder has no chance of facing Leicester City or Wolves after suffering ankle ligament damage.

Oxlade-Chamberlain limped out of the Premier League leaders Club World Cup final victory over Flamengo last Saturday 15 minutes from the end of normal time.

Klopp revealed the former Arsenal man will not play again this year and is waiting to discover when he will return in 2020.

When asked about the injury situation, the Liverpool manager said at a press conference on Tuesday: No news on anyone else, which is good news.

With Oxlade, it was probably what we expected. You have three ligaments on the outside of the ankle and one of them is damaged, now we have to…

Manchester United s players were better paid than those from neighbours and rivals Manchester City last season, although a lavish wage bill could only deliver a fifth-placed Premier League finish.

City s latest financial results, released on Tuesday, revealed staff costs of £198million, while the world s most expensive footballer Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jose Mourinho have added further weight to a United wage bill that totalled £203m for 2015-16.

A run to the Champions League semi-finals in a capacity-boosted Etihad Stadium under Manuel Pellegrini last term helped City rake in record revenues of £391.8m, netting a profit of £20.5m.

By comparison, United made a gargantuan £515m over the same period, with a healthy profit of almost £50m.

Wh…

According to French television Canal+, the transfer of Lyon’s Nabil Fekir to is 99% done.

In the last round of the 2017/18 Ligue 1 season, Lyon beat Nice by 3-2. Fekir was substituted in the 84th minute, and the moment was clearly very emotional for the attacking midfielder as his gestures towards his teammates and the faithful fans looked like he was saying goodbye.

The France international, recently in their World Cup squad, has been linked with a move to Anfield for a while. It is believed the transfer would cost Liverpool €60million, which should not represent a problem for Jürgen Klopp who still has the full €160million from the sale of Philippe Coutinho at his disposal.

The Reds are still likely to lose Emre Can on a free transfer this summer, but…

West Ham sacked Manuel Pellegrini following a 2-1 home defeat to a much-changed Leicester City side before Manchester United won at Burnley on Saturday. 

Pellegrini was relieved of his duties following a loss that leaves the London club just a point above the Premier League relegation zone in 17th.

Leicester were thumped 4-0 by runaway leaders Liverpool on Boxing Day after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Manchester City, but got back on track in the capital despite Brendan Rodgers making nine changes – leading scorer Jamie Vardy absent after his wife gave birth.

Goals from Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford gave United a 2-0 win at Turf Moor, where they kept a first clean sheet in 15 league games.

Jose Mourinho s Spurs needed Harry Kane s 83rd-minute pe…

Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke is to undergo more tests to identify the virus that has prevented him from training for the last week, according to his club Hanover.

Blood tests carried out by the Hamburg institute of tropical diseases confirmed that it was not a contagious disease, the club said.

Other tests are needed to determine the proper treatment, it said, adding that Enke should be able to resume individual training quickly.

Second-choice keeper behind Jens Lehmann during Euro 2008, Enke has won eight caps for Germany but had to pull out of the squad that beat Azerbaijan in last week s World Cup qualifier because of the virus.

…

The English Premier League plans to help develop professional football clubs in Asia through twinning partnerships, AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam said here Friday.

The twinning scheme is part of an agreement on cooperation between the world s leading football league and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), bin Hammam told a small group of reporters.

He said the Premier League had already been engaged in various developmental and social assistance programmes at home and abroad, especially in Asia.

Now the top-flight 20-club league has come forward to support the AFC in technical, organisational and other areas and we are counting a lot on their support, he said.

There could be or would be twinning between our clubs in Asia and Premier League c…

Schalke sporting director Horst Heldt said there have been no new offers for Julian Draxler, though the midfielder could still be sold, amid interest from Juventus.

Serie A champions Juventus lodged a bid for Germany international Draxler, which was swiftly rejected by Schalke last month.

Juve remain interested in the 21-year-old, but Heldt has no plans to part with the club s prized asset on the cheap.

We received an offer for Draxler, which we rejected. That s out in the open, Heldt said ahead of Schalke s Bundesliga opener at Werder Bremen on Saturday.

We haven t received a new offer, as has been written in the Italian media.

We have a verbal agreement with Julian, which we made when we extended his contract in 2013, so I can t rule anything…