Villa relishing full fitness

Harry Kane s 100th Premier League goal earned Tottenham a 2-2 draw at Liverpool in a contender for the game of the season, the striker stepping up to snatch a point from the spot in a hugely dramatic match at Anfield.

Kane had been denied by Loris Karius from 12 yards shortly after Victor Wanyama s long-range blockbuster cancelled out Mohamed Salah s opener, and Liverpool looked to have snuck a win thanks to the Egyptian s wonderful solo effort in the first minute of stoppage time.

But referee Jon Moss pointed to the spot again when Virgil van Dijk challenged Erik Lamela and Kane stepped up to send Karius the wrong way and give a thrilling contest a fitting climax.

Salah had given Liverpool the lead in the third minute, becoming the quickest Reds player to reach…

Seydou Doumbia could be on his way out of CSKA Moscow as Napoli have tabled an 18-million-euro bid for the Ivory Coast international.

The Serie A outfit are in the market for attacking reinforcements due to the expected departure of Ezequiel Lavezzi to Paris Saint-Germain, and they see the 24-year-old Doumbia as the ideal replacement.

Napoli sporting director Riccardo Bigon met with a CSKA representative in Milan on Tuesday , where he made a first official offer for the prolific striker, according to Goal.com.

The Russian giants previously demanded 30m euros for Doumbia, but have lowered their asking price to 25m.

Although both parties are still some way apart, they are expected to meet once more in the upcoming days to continue talks, and could eventua…

Antonio Conte wants to raise the bar for his Inter youngsters after Nicolo Barella sparked a late fightback in the Nerazzurri s 3-1 win at Cagliari on Sunday.

Inter peppered the visitors goal only to find home goalkeeper Alessio Cragno in inspired form and trailed to Riccardo Sottil s 42nd-minute goal at Sardegna Arena.

Former Cagliari midfielder Barella levelled in the 77th minute with a sublime volley and it was his corner from which Danilo D Ambrosio put Inter ahead before Romelu Lukaku rounded out the comeback in injury time.

In total, Barella had two shots on target, finished with an assist, completed 50 of 61 passes for an 82 per cent success rate and put in seven crosses two of which were good crosses as defined by Opta.

Speaking to DAZN, Conte sai…

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Werder will be playing host to Borussia Dortmund at the Wesserstadion in the 12th round of the 2020/21 Bundesliga season on Tuesday evening, for a game in which both sides will be hoping to turn the recent fortunes around.

Werder Bremen

Having lost three matches on the trot   5-3 away to Wolfsburg, 1-2 at home against VfB Stuttgart and 2-0 away to RB Leipzig, Werder currently sit in 13th place in the Bundesliga table with 11 points to their name from as many matches. The feeling of woe among their supporters will have been further increased by the fact that they ve failed to win any of their last eight matches. Their last six results in the league were three draws and three defeats. It should, perhaps, be said in their defence that on…

Bordeaux have confirmed they are close to finalising a deal for AC Milan s Jeremy Menez.

The French forward, who made just 10 Serie A appearances last season, will undergo a medical ahead of completing the move on Monday.

Menez s form in 2015-16 was in stark contrast to the return of 16 goals in 33 league games he achieved in the previous campaign.

He made the switch to San Siro following a spell in Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain, during which he won two league titles.

The 29-year-old, who has won 24 caps, also counts Roma, Monaco and Sochaux among his former clubs.

Bordeaux, who finished 11th last season, start the new term at home to Saint-Etienne.

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German football legend Franz Roth believes France could be burdened by the pressure of a home crowd at Euro 2016 and backed Germany to go a long way in the tournament.

Roth, who only won four caps for his country but is one of Bayern Munich s most decorated players, also tipped Belgium to impress and pointed to the potential for smaller nations to cause an upset.

Didier Deschamps France team are among the favourites to lift the Henri Delaunay Trophy given their home advantage, but Roth warned: It can be a burden, too.

It s not always a bonus to play at home, he told Omnisport. Germany was perfect – 1974 [when West Germany hosted and won the World Cup] was a bonus and we became world champions. But this doesn t have to be the case every time.

With Fra…

In an interview with the press, Chelsea and Ivory Coast’s striker Didier Drogba outlined how he nearly quit football in 2008.

The reasons he gave were as follows:

The death of this grandmother, with whom he was extremely close. He said that the thoughts of his early childhood played on his mind;

He had to constantly battle against injury;

He had been faced with disciplinary problems; and

There had been question marks over his future at the club.

The thirty-year old striker also said that the club had been unable to offer him much help in overcoming his physical as well as mental problems.

All of this had drained him both physically and mentally as he lost his desire to play. He added that his passion for the game …

Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun has confirmed he is in talks with two Premier League clubs over a potential loan deal.

The 32-year-old, who signed for Chelsea from Liverpool in 2010, spent last season on loan at Arsenal, where he made 19 Premier League appearances for Arsene Wenger s side.

I can confirm that I m in talks with two premier league clubs about a loan move,hope to sort it by tomorrow evening, Benayoun posted on Twitter.

The Israeli has a year remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge and has been linked with moves to Fulham, West Ham and Greek side Olympiakos this transfer period.

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Verdict: Atletico Madrid to Win to Nil

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La Liga runners-up Atletico Madrid return to action following the international break with a home clash against relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna. Hosts will be looking for much-needed three points that would help them maintain the advantage over third-placed Real Madrid.

Atletico Madrid

The 2017/18 has been the season of ups and downs for Atletico Madrid. Having gone through a stifling transfer ban Los Colchineros were finally able to register new players during the January window and went on to make an additional push towards the top of the La Liga table.

Sitting in second with huge 11 points behind runaway leaders Barcelona, Atletico Madrid will be looking to beat reigning …

Kylian Mbappe was among the scorers as Paris Saint-Germain brushed aside Strasbourg 4-0 in their final Ligue 1 outing of 2020.

The reigning champions were held to a goalless draw by Lille last time out and struggled to find their stride again in Wednesday s clash at the Parc des Princes prior to a late flurry of goals.

Timothee Pembele s first strike for the club in his fifth appearance got PSG off the mark after 18 minutes, but it took until 11 minutes from time for Mbappe to add a second from a few yards out.

Substitutes Idrissa Gueye and Moise Kean then joined the scoring as Thomas Tuchel s men picked up a third league win in seven outings, although they end the year in third place a point behind Lyon and Lille, who both won elsewhere.

The Parisians fi…