Veteran duo earn Argentina recall

Prediction: West Ham win

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The Premier League is back once again this weekend for the final set of fixtures before we enter the always-crazy month of December. There are so many teams up and down the top flight who are in desperate need of some points on the board before this period hits, mainly because momentum can be such a vital piece of the puzzle during the winter schedule. Today, we re going to be taking a look at what could be a barnburner between two of the season s surprise starters: West Ham United and Aston Villa.

West Ham

They may not be world beaters but West Ham have already gone above and beyond what many expected of them this season, given that they were once considered to be one of the leading contenders for rele…

Tottenham will take on non-league Marine in the third round of the FA Cup.

Jose Mourinho s Premier League leaders will face the eighth-tier club after their second-round victory over Havant Waterlooville.

Holders Arsenal will host Newcastle United, while Liverpool travel to Aston Villa, where they lost 7-2 in the Premier League this season.

Manchester United and Manchester City have home games against Championship clubs, with the Red Devils hosting Watford and Pep Guardiola s team playing Birmingham City.

Chelsea are at home to League Two side Morecambe, Leeds United head to Crawley Town and fifth-tier side Stockport County will host West Ham.

The matches are scheduled to be played over the weekend of January 9 and 10. Due to the impact on the s…

Barcelona are seemingly preparing for the arrival of Phillipe Coutinho after Nike appeared to confirm the Liverpool star s signing on its website.

Liverpool fans were left sweating when giant sportswear manufacturer and Barcelona apparel sponsor Nike appeared to leak the blockbuster transfer via its online store.

Advertising customisation of Barca s 2017-18 kit, a caption read: Philippe Coutinho is ready to light up Camp Nou. Get your 2017-18 FC Barcelona kit with the Magician s name on it. Act fast – free personalisation only available until 6 January.

Nike later deleted the page and it remains to be seen whether it was a PR blunder or online hacking.

Omnisport contacted Nike and Barcelona for comment.

If you check out Nike s UK website, this…

Lionel Messi may have just won a record sixth Ballon d Or, but Andy Robertson has put forward a new suggestion for the greatest player of all time.

Divock Origi was one of the stars of the show for Liverpool on Wednesday as the Premier League leaders thrashed Merseyside rivals Everton 5-2 at Anfield.

Origi, who scored twice in the first half, now has five goals against the Toffees – ranking him second behind Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard in the Premier League era.

Jurgen Klopp elected to start Origi instead of Roberto Firmino, and Robertson lauded his team-mate who was vital in Liverpool s dramatic win over Barcelona in the Champions League last season and also scored in the final as a player for the big games.

He just loves a big game doesn t he, R…

Midfielder Alen Halilovic has multiple offers for his services, but his agent would prefer the teenager stays at Barcelona on the fringe of the first team.

Halilovic, 19, joined the La Liga giants from Dinamo Zagreb in mid-2014 but struggled in his maiden season before being sent out on loan to Sporting Gijon for 2015-16.

The eight-time Croatia international s future at Camp Nou has been questioned, leading to suggestions he could be set for a move at season s end.

His agent, Zoran Stojadinovic, confirmed Halilovic had offers, but he wants him to remain at Barca and fight for a breakthrough.

If Barcelona choose to loan him again, we prefer that Halilovic stays in Spain. For him, La Liga is better than Premier League, for example, he told Cadena SER.

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As Claudio Ranieri closes in on the greatest achievement of his managerial career with Leicester City, one man believes it was his lowest moment that might have inspired the Italian to such heights.

Leicester are only one win away from winning a maiden Premier League title, but Ranieri, who has overseen the unlikely title bid, might not have even been in charge had Greece not lost to the Faroe Islands 1-0 in 2014.

Former Denmark international Lars Olsen was coaching the Faroe Islands at the time and suggested Ranieri might have taken inspiration from that day as the manager formerly known as the Tinkerman has focussed on counter-attacking to inspire Leicester s title challenge.

It was an incredible result for us — and we could have scored four or five, as we…

There may be a new look to Lyon when the French first division campaign kicks off on Saturday, but it will be business as usual as the champions chase down an unprecedented eighth consecutive league title.

Manager Alain Perrin, who led Lyon to the league and cup double, long-time keeper Gregory Coupet and international starlet Hatem Ben Arfa all moved on in a spring clean that raised a few eyebrows, not to mention hackles.

In their place came former Lille coach Claude Puel, French reserve keeper Hugo Lloris and striker Frederic Piquionne as Lyon looked to mount a serious challenge, not only at home but abroad.

On signing, Puel spoke of the club s lofty ambition to compete well in Europe s richest tournament, the Champions League, a tournament in which they ha…

England manager Roy Hodgson believes that his players will relish the opportunity of being underdogs in Monday s opener against France.

Les Bleus have been in mercurial form under coach Laurent Blanc, having put together an astonishing 21-game unbeaten run heading into Euro 2012 after a disastrous 2010 World Cup campaign saw them bow out amidst controversy in the group stages.

The French beat England 2-1 at Wembley when the sides last met, but Hodgson insists his players will be fearless heading into the Group D encounter at Donbass Arena.

The players think we can beat France, there s no question about that. There s no fear in that respect, he said.

In any league, 21 matches unbeaten is an achievement. But I don t get the feeling the players are cowed …

Samir Nasri has had his contract with Antalyaspor cancelled by mutual consent.

After a successful loan spell at Sevilla failed to bring a permanent deal, Nasri moved to Turkey to try and resurrect his career after it had stalled at Manchester City.

Nasri moved to Antalyaspor for a reported €3.5million, but has only made eight appearances in the Super Lig, the last of those coming in November against Fenerbahce.

And, just five months into a two-year contract, the 30-year-old has been released, with a move to the Primeira Liga with Porto mooted.

With Samir Nasri, who we signed for the 2017-18 season, our paths have been divided by mutual agreement, a statement from the Super Lig strugglers read.

We would like to thank him for his contribution to…

Competition: Europa League

Market: Arsenal to beat Ostersunds

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The Europa League continues this week with even more compelling action to come. While the Europa League may be the secondary competition to the Champions League, it is still full of incredibly entertaining play with goals and controversy aplenty. With this in mind, Arsenal travel to face Ostersunds on Thursday.

Ostersunds were able to progress from their group fairly comfortably and their reward for this is a knock-out round tie against Arsenal. After six games, Ostersunds won three, drew twice and lost once, while they scored eight goals and conceded four times. In their last five they were able to win twice, draw twice and lose once, which saw them onto 11 points, five clear…