Football News
Claudio Ranieri does not have any doubts that Leicester City will arrest their worrying league form now that the Champions League is on the back burner. The champions face Middlesbrough at the Kingpower Stadium on Saturday having won just three of their 12 games thus far in the defence of their crown.
Leicester have already lost twice as many games as they did in t
Tottenham’s Champions League hopes were dashed in a 39 second spell on Tuesday night and bet365 are 14/1 about Mauricio Pochettino’s side winning the Europa League this season.
Sunderland have suffered another major blow to their hopes of Premier League survival, with Paddy McNair set to miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury. The 21-year-old Northern Ireland international, who can play in either defence or midfield, only joined the Black Cats from Manchester United in August and made 12 appearances before being struck down by injury.
Borussia Monchengladbach boss Andre Schubert admits that he will set his side up to contain Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday. City are on a high after beating Barcelona 3-1 in their last European encounter and head into the match at Borussia-Park in second spot in Group C, three points better off than their Bundesliga opponents.
Assistant boss says midfielder’s New Year return will be a huge bonus… MARK BOWEN has revealed that Ibrahim Afellay is closing in on a first-team retun but refused to put a concrete date on his first-team comeback.
However, after undergoing rehabilitation outside of the UK, the 30-year-old is now back at Clayton Wood working towards a potential return in the New Year.
Speaking to BBC Radio Stoke, the Potters assistant boss said: “He’s been training with the group but in situations when there’s been no contact.
“If we’ve had games then he’s been playing on both sides so he doesn’t get any tackles.
“Tuesday was a step forward because he was training with the group and we could see all his attributes that delighted us last year.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Henrikh Mkhitaryan will play in Thursday’s Europa League clash against Feyenoord. The Armenia international has only made six appearances for United since moving to Old Trafford from Borussia Dortmund in July.
Returning full back reacts to Bournemouth defeat . GLEN JOHNSON believes Stoke City created more than enough chances to beat Bournemouth and on another day could have easily collected all three points.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has urged his side to be “clever” when they take on Monaco in a must-win clash on Tuesday. Tottenham could be eliminated from the Champions League at the Stade Louis II if they fail to take all three points and Bayer Leverkusen beat CSKA Moscow.
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan says his side still have a way to go before they become genuine contenders to win the Champions League. The Citizens go into the game away to Borussia Monchengladbach knowing that a win or a draw would put them well on the way to the knockout stages of the competition, with Gundogan urging his colleagues to utilise the confidence gained from a superb 3-1 win over Barcelona last time out.
Arsene Wenger has urged his Arsenal side to see off Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday to ensure they finish at the top of their Champions League group. The Gunners and the French champions are both on 10 points at the top of Group A and the winner of Wednesday’s meeting at the Emirates Stadium will almost certainly end up at the top of the pile, and earn a favourable draw for the first knockout round as a result.