Quique Sanchez Flores believes Watford are laying the foundations for a strong Premier League future as they prepare to host Tottenham on Monday.
 
The Spaniard s team have impressed upon their return to the top flight and occupy seventh place, just three points adrift of Mauricio Pochettino s side in fourth.
 
Saturday s 2-2 draw against Chelsea ended Watford s four-match winning streak, but Tottenham will travel to Vicarage Road to face the Premier League s form side, who have taken 13 points from their last 15 available.
 
Key to Watford s strong form this term has been a series of resilient showings on home turf, where they have conceded just six goals in nine games.
 
Odion Ighalo – who set a new club record by netting in a fifth straight Premier League match at Chels…

Messi happy to stay at home until the end / Image via cbssports.com

Arguing that tax fraud charges may urge Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona is simply poor judgment.

The 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or winner is synonymous with Barcelona, with the club’s philosophy and values that are embedded in their mutual DNA to ever think about leaving.

It has nothing to do with whether he may do it somewhere else, on a cold winter’s night in Stoke in example, it has to do with the fact that the Argentine star thinks of Barcelona as his home and leaving home has never been an option for him.

Several European giant have been hoping for some time that they would be able to convince Messi to join them, placing their trust in the tax evasion scandal to ruin Messi’s desire …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits he is more concerned with side’s defensive display than the role VAR played in denying his side a late Europa League draw in Toulouse.

Individual mistakes and a lack of collective cohesion saw the hosts take a 3-1 lead but Diogo Jota’s 89th-minute strike, after Cristian Casseres’ own goal had got them back into the game, set up a dramatic conclusion.

In the seventh and final minute of added time 20-year-old centre-back Jarell Quansah thought he had equalised but after a long delay referee Georgi Kabakov was advised to go to the pitchside monitor and he ruled Alexis Mac Allister had handled the ball, even though it had initially bounced up off his chest very early in the move for the goal.

“I only saw the video back no…

PAOK president Ivan Savvidis has apologised for storming the field while armed with a gun during Sunday s match against AEK Athens at the weekend – an incident that led to the Greek Superleague being suspended indefinitely by the country s government.

Savvidis invaded the pitch along with members of his security detail after PAOK s Fernando Varela had what he thought was an 89th-minute winner rule out for offside.

The Georgian-born tobacco and media tycoon was wearing a pistol in a holster on his hip, although he did not brandish it in the ensuing furore that saw AEK players leave the field before the match was abandoned at 0-0.

Greece s Deputy Minister of Sport George Vassiliadis announced on Monday that the country s top flight was on an indefinite interrupti…

Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery says he is grateful to the Bundesliga leaders for standing by him during his long absence due to injury.

Ribery missed almost a full calendar year of action with muscle and ankle problems but has won his place back in the Bayern side despite strong competition from Kingsley Coman and Douglas Costa.

Bayern who are five points clear of Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga table face Eintracht Frankfurt at home on Saturday and Ribery was in reflective mood ahead of the game.

Bayern will always be a special club for me, Ribery told Bundesliga.com. Over the years, I have had many offers, but Bayern have rejected them and today I am very happy that a change for either side is out of the question.

I remember that th…

Mikel Arteta has been charged by the Football Association over comments he made after Arsenal’s defeat by Newcastle earlier this month.

The Gunners boss branded the VAR decision not to rule out Anthony Gordon’s goal in his side’s 1-0 defeat at St James’ Park “an absolute disgrace”.

An FA statement read: “Mikel Arteta has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1 following comments that he made in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Saturday, November 4.

Regulation and Discipline update on :

— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson)

“It’s alleged that his comments constitute misconduct as they are insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or bring the game in…

Jamie Vardy has won his second individual award of 2015-16 after being named Premier League Player of the Season.

The accolade sees the Leicester City striker add to his Football Writers Association Player of the Year gong which he collected on Thursday, while his team-mate Riyad Mahrez was named PFA Player of the Year.

Vardy has scored 24 Premier League goals this season as Leicester made a stunning charge to be crowned champions having been rated as relegation candidates at the start of the campaign.

Claudio Ranieri s men had five of the 10 nominations for the Premier League award, with captain Wes Morgan, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, midfielder N Golo Kante and Mahrez in the running.

BREAKING: striker named Player of the Season. More follows…

…

Barcelona teenager Gavi won the prestigious Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d Or ceremony in Paris on Monday.

The 18-year-old midfielder became the second successive Barca player to land the award, given to the best player in the world under the age of 21, after fellow midfielder Pedri had the honour last year.

Gavi has been a revelation since breaking into the Catalan giants first team and has been rewarded for a brilliant breakthrough 2021-22 season.

The youngster s performances also earned him a Spain call-up and he is set to play in his first World Cup in Qatar.

Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was the runner-up, with Bayern Munich s Jamal Musiala third ahead of Borussia Dortmund s Jude Bellingham and Nuno Mendes of Paris Saint-Germain.

Gavi…

Mohamed Salah has set his sights on further Champions League and domestic success with Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp s side face Villarreal in the first leg of their semi-final encounter on Wednesday, just under three years on from their last triumph in the tournament. The Champions League is one of three trophies that Liverpool are still in the hunt for this season, having already won the EFL Cup.

Salah helped Liverpool to victory in an all-English affair against Tottenham on that occasion in 2019, and says he wants to recapture those highs with a second European crown.

I want to have the feeling again that we had after winning the Champions League,  he told the club s matchday programme ahead of the game.

It was unbelievable and in my mind that s why …

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp accepted he was likely to find little sympathy for the mitigating factors he identified as the cause of dropped points in Sunday s 0-0 draw with Southampton.

James Milner had a second-half penalty saved to check the Reds hopes of Champions League qualification but Klopp – who was ridiculed earlier in the season for identifying a strong wind as one of the reasons for defeat to the Saints in the semi-final of the EFL Cup – bemoaned the visitors timewasting and a dry Anfield playing surface.

Fraser Forster brilliantly kept out Milner s spot kick after exchanging words with his former England team-mate, while Southampton also had Cedric Soares and James Ward-Prowse booked during the delay between Jack Stephens handball and the penalty being…