Fabregas hails Spain improvements

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In what could prove to be an action-packed affair from the London Stadium on Tuesday night, Brighton will travel to the capital when they meet West Ham.

West Ham

Starting with the hosts, putting in another stellar display last time out as they secured a 2-0 victory away at title contenders Arsenal, it appears that the mood in West Ham’s camp is at a red-hot high. Making real history last season as they claimed a maiden Europa Conference League crown, David Moyes’ men are certainly firing on all cylinders. Now with their sights firmly set on mounting a genuine top-six charge in 2024, the ex-Manchester United boss has seen his squad gain plenty of plaudits. Breezing their way to the Europa League knockout stage on December 14th, West…

Neil Lennon has confirmed Celtic have rejected a transfer bid from Norwich City for striker Gary Hooper.

The English front-man has 18 months left on his contract in Glasgow and is yet to commit to a new deal despite lengthy negotiations with the SPL champions.

However, Lennon is still unwilling to sell Hooper, saying Celtic do not need to let key players leave when they still have much to look forward to in the second half of the campaign, with a tie against Juventus coming up in the Champions League last 16.

The bid has been rejected, Lennon told reporters.

Our case is simple you are not going. He has a year and a half on his contract and he s a Celtic player.

We are very disappointed that this has become public knowledge because we do our b…

Ian Holloway has been appointed as the new manager of QPR.

The former Blackpool and Crystal Palace boss who spent time at Loftus Road as a player and manager replaces Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who was sacked last week.

QPR have appointed Ian Holloway as the club s new manager, read a club statement on Friday.

The 53-year-old has put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half year contract at Loftus Road, returning to the club he served as both a player and a manager with great distinction.

Look who s back  

— QPR FC (@QPRFC)

Holloway, who was sacked by Millwall in March 2015, told the club s website: I feel honoured, privileged and proud. It s a huge moment for me and I am delighted to be back here.

I feel this is the right time for…

Opening the 2021/22 Premier League campaign with what was a thumping against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, it is no secret that many have tipped Chelsea as one of the leading early-season picks in the title chase.

Only going from strength to strength since bringing Thomas Tuchel to Stamford Bridge earlier in the year, The Blues are still riding a real wave after lifting the Champions League title thanks to May’s 1-0 win against Manchester City.

With the mood around West London at a real high, Chelsea fans were also sent into overdrive last week as it was announced that former Blues striker and Inter Milan ace had completed a record-breaking deal as the 28-year-old made his Premier League return.

Spending £97.5million on the Belgian marksman, it has …

Real Madrid produced a 2-0 home win over Valladolid on Sunday to move back to within six points of Barcelona at the top of the Spanish championship.

Captain Raul scored close to half-time, with Gonzalo Higuain setting up his strike partner, while Arjen Robben added a late second as Real made it 14 wins from 16 under Juande Ramos.

Barcelona had defeated Recreativo Huelva 2-0 on Saturday to open up a nine-point gap, but Real continued their dogged pursuit of a third successive league crown.

Valladolid had beaten Real 1-0 earlier in the season, when Bernd Schuster was at the helm, but under Ramos Real have improved and are unbeaten in the league in 2009.

England international David Beckham, now on loan at AC Milan, was one of the spectators at the Santiago …

Porto will look to keep former player Hulk quiet when he returns to the Estadio do Dragao with Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old spent four seasons with the Portuguese club, scoring 54 goals in 99 league appearances, before moving to Russia in September 2012.

He has already scored twice in the UEFA Champions League this season, but Luciano Spalletti s men have picked up just one point from their two games in Group G so far.

After losing to Atletico Madrid in their opener, they drew 0-0 against Austria Vienna, with Tuesday s tie likely to be a close one between the sides placed second and third in the group.

Both are top of their domestic leagues and, while Porto have never lost at home against Russian opposition in the competition, Zenit have the …

Axel Witsel could have joined Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain at various points in his career but feels vindicated in his decision to sign for Borussia Dortmund last year.

Witsel is in his second season at Dortmund, having joined the Bundesliga club from Chinese side Tianjin Quanjin on a four-year contract.

He narrowly missed out on the Bundesliga title in his debut campaign. However, Witsel believes he is at the right club after possible moves to other European heavyweights did not come to pass.

Speaking to Goal and DAZN, the former Zenit midfielder detailed how he missed out on joining Madrid from Benfica before electing to return to Zenit ahead of moving to Juve.

I could have joined Real Madrid when Jose Mourinho was …

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray is under pressure to end a sorry run of home results that have left the Glasgow giants in a virtually must-win situation against Europa League rivals Hamburg on Thursday.

Fulham and Everton will also be in action, against Roma and Benfica, respectively but with the English Premier League sides sitting pretty atop their groups the pressure is all on Celtic.

After two of their six games the Scots are bottom of Group C with a point, and a three-point deficit to Rapid Vienna who held them 1-1 in Glasgow last time out.

Counting the scoreless draw with league opponents Motherwell last weekend, the Hoops now just have two wins from seven home games in all competitions so far this season.

All talk of a crisis has been stifled by Mowbr…

Jose Mourinho insisted Paul Pogba is happy to be back at Manchester United following France s World Cup victory, despite reports linking the midfielder with a move to Barcelona and Juventus.

Pogba played a crucial role for Didier Deschamps triumphant side in Russia, and the 25-year-old star returned to United training on Monday ahead of Friday s opening Premier League fixture of the season against Leicester City.

LaLiga champions Barca are reportedly interested in taking Pogba to Camp Nou, with the transfer window still open until August 31 for most of Europe s major leagues, while former club Juve have also been linked.

However, manager Mourinho affirmed that United have no intention of selling Pogba, who they paid Juve a reported £90million for in 2016, addi…

Former Manchester United skipper Roy Keane delivered a withering assessment of England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford following Everton’s Premier League defeat by title-chasing Manchester City.

The 29-year-old was given little chance by Ilkay Gundogan’s stunning first-half strike, but was unable to keep out Erling Haaland’s header seconds later and was well beaten by Gundogan’s second-half free-kick as City won 3-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

Analysing the third goal, Keane, who has questioned Pickford’s credentials in the past, disagreed with fellow pundit Micah Richards’ opinion of Gareth Southgate’s number one.

Micah said before the game he s a top goalkeeper – he s not.

Roy Keane was not impressed with Jordan Pickford today