Thiago Alcantara unlikely to leave Liverpool in January

Last Sunday had the potential to change everything in the Premier League title race. Instead, it changed nothing.

Arsenal ended the weekend as they started it: five points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand.

Mikel Arteta s men took seven points from consecutive matches against third-placed Newcastle United, fifth-placed Tottenham and fourth-placed Manchester United.

They have passed the various tests left before them and maintained a healthy lead over City.

But they still have not played City themselves this season. That will change on Friday – just not in the Premier League.

The FA Cup fourth-round draw paired England s best two teams, providing a warm-up at the Etihad Stadium for their Emirates Stadium league clash in February.

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Rotherham finally beat Morecambe in the Carabao Cup after seeing off the League Two outfit 4-2 on penalties.

The Shrimps won in South Yorkshire in 2016 and then again 12 months ago and another upset was in the offing when Michael Mellon put them in front.

Josh Kayode’s first home goal for the club levelled before the break, meaning the game had to be decided by penalties and Dillon Phillips saved two on his debut to earn a place in the second round.

Morecambe enjoy coming to Rotherham in the League Cup so it was no surprise to see them start well.

JJ McKiernan should have put them ahead inside the first five minutes when he was teed up by Mellon, but he shot straight at goalkeeper Phillips’ legs.

Mellon did open the scoring midway through the …

Mikel Arteta believes Declan Rice’s potential return to West Ham will be “beautiful” – if the Arsenal manager decides to play the midfielder in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash.

The 24-year-old England international moved across London in the summer, the Gunners paying a club-record £105million to prise him away from the Hammers.

Rice, who captained West Ham to victory in the Europa Conference League final in the last of his 245 games for the club he joined at the age of 14, could be in line for his first return to east London having shone in the opening months of his fledgling Arsenal career.

“It will be his first time back at his old club and a beautiful moment for him, I think,” Arteta said on the eve of the fourth-round tie.

“I think it …

Celta Vigo have temporarily removed Santi Mina from their first-team squad pending disciplinary proceedings after the forward was sentenced to four years in prison for the sexual abuse of a woman.

A ruling handed down by the Third Section of the Provisional Court of Almeria sentenced Mina in relation to an incident on June 18, 2017.

According to Spanish news agency EFE, Mina s friend and fellow footballer David Goldar was acquitted.

Mina s legal representation confirmed he will appeal the decision.

In a statement reported by EFE, they said: With important errors in the assessment of the tests carried out and therefore of the events that occurred, [the legal team] will proceed to file the corresponding appeal in the coming days.

Celta subsequentl…

The only way is up for Arsenal after another humbling defeat, this time at Manchester City, who saw two potential Premier League title rivals draw at Anfield.

Mikel Arteta endured a miserable return to the Etihad Stadium, with the latest poor result seeing the Gunners end the day at the bottom of the English top-flight table having played at least three league matches for the first time since October 1974.

The rest of the fixtures were much closer, including a lively capital clash and a four-goal draw in the north east that saw late, late drama.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform takes a look at the key statistics from some of Saturday s most notable fixtures.

-9 Arsenal are only the second team in Premier League history to lose their first three matches i…

Milan s hopes of finishing in Serie A s top four received another blow on Saturday as they were beaten 2-0 by relegation-threatened Spezia.

The Rossoneri headed to Stadio Alberto Picco on a seven-match league unbeaten run but still stinging from Wednesday s 2-0 first-leg defeat to city rivals Inter in the Champions League semi-finals.

Stefano Pioli s men put in another frustrating display against stubborn Spezia, twice denied by the post before Przemyslaw Wisniewski and Salvatore Esposito struck late on as the hosts claimed three points for the first time in nine league games.

The result means fifth-placed Milan remain two points behind fourth-placed Inter and three ahead of Roma, though both of those teams could yet take advantage of their latest slip-up this we…

In his heyday, Arsene Wenger was widely praised for his trust in young players and eye for developing talent.

After all, Cesc Fabregas, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie are just a few of the players he helped nurture into top-level international footballers.

But for every Henry is a superstar who got away… Or so Le Professeur would have us believe.

A football manager can t sign everyone, but as the joke goes, Wenger seems to have tried to buy all of them all of the players. Or, all the really good ones anyway. Funny, that.

The Frenchman has been doing the media rounds of late and most recently floated the idea of Cristiano Ronaldo playing alongside Henry, Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord and Dennis Bergkamp in an interview with the BBC.

Manchester City will be aiming to get back to winning ways in midweek as they tackle Burnley in the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup.

Heading to Turf Moor, Pep Guardiola s men will be reeling from their shock defeat to Leicester City but have a great chance to reach the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, the Clarets have not reached this stage of the League Cup in some time so a win against the Citizens could help them finally get their season up and running after a tricky start.

Burnley

It s certainly not been the start to the 2020/21 that Sean Dyche and Burnley would have envisaged, with an injury-hit Clarets side losing their opening two Premier League matches to Leicester City and Southampton. The Carabao Cup has been a welcome distraction so far though having reached the f…

Bernardo Silva made amends for his midweek penalty miss as holders Manchester City returned to the FA Cup final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Chelsea.

Silva badly fluffed his lines as City were agonisingly knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by Real Madrid on Wednesday but he was the match winner as they bounced back at Wembley.

The Portugal international turned home the only goal of a tight encounter six minutes from time to keep alive City’s hopes of retaining the domestic double.

final bound!

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Chelsea were left to rue wasting a host of chances, with Nicolas Jackson particularly culpable, on what proved a bad day for the Senegal forward in front of goal. The Londoners were also frustrated no…

Arsenal are open to offers for the services of Gabriel Jesus this summer, according to .

In the 2023/24 season, the Brazilian striker has been absent from just six Premier League games due to injury, though it may feel like more given his feeble impact. Despite making 24 league appearances and starting 17 times, he has rarely showcased the kind of form he was on during the first half of the previous campaign.

Throughout these 24 appearances, the former Manchester City man has only managed to score four goals. Furthermore, he no longer enjoys automatic selection as the team s central striker under Mikel Arteta, a position he once occupied without question. The presence and form of Kai Havertz has prompted a shift in the way Arteta arranges his front line, leading to Jesu…