Mourinho: Tottenham are not fighting for the title

Jose Mourinho insists Tottenham cannot be expected to challenge for the Premier League title in his first full campaign in charge despite sitting top of the table.

Spurs produced a clinical display to see off Manchester City 2-0 on Saturday thanks to a goal in each half from Son Heung-min and substitute Giovani Lo Celso.

They have won four games in a row in the top flight, are seven without defeat and will finish a day at the summit of the league for the first time since August 2014.

But Mourinho, who celebrated one year in charge on Friday, does not believe his side can realistically compete for the title.

It feels good [to be top], but maybe tomorrow we are second again and honestly that would not be a problem for me, I am just happy with the evolutio…

Woman admits stalking Mason Mount and his former Chelsea team-mate Billy Gilmour

A woman bombarded Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount with messages in a four-month stalking campaign after he broke off their relationship, a court has heard.

TikToker Orla Melissa Sloan, 21, pleaded guilty to stalking the 24-year-old and his former team-mate Billy Gilmour, 21, as well as harassing fellow Blues star Ben Chilwell, 26, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The court heard she slept with Mount, who had surgery on a pelvic injury last month, after they met at a party at his England team-mate Chilwell’s home in November 2020.

Prosecutor Jason Seetal said they stayed in contact for around six months before Mount “decided that the relationship was not going to progress”.

“Upon informing Miss Sloan of this, he has been subjected t…

Allegri ´worried´ by Juventus display despite clinching top spot

Massimiliano Allegri is worried about Juventus second-half display in their 1-0 win over Malmo that helped clinch top spot in Champions League Group H.

The Italian side saw off Malmo in Wednesday s contest at the Allianz Stadium thanks to a first-half header from Moise Kean.

That fifth win from six group matches ensured Juve finished two points above holders Chelsea, who were pegged back late on in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Zenit.

Despite securing one of the seeded spots for Monday s last-16 draw, Allegri was not pleased with the way his side dropped off in the second half.

We re happy to finish first; it shows that winning is not easy, he said at his post-match news conference. But let s put the game aside and think about Venezia on Saturday.

I…

Torres to Barcelona could be a move that suits all parties

You would surely have got good odds on Barcelona being the first club to splash the cash in the January transfer window, what with them reportedly not having any.

However, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed at a news conference on Thursday that Ferran Torres is on the verge of leaving the Etihad Stadium for Camp Nou, with the deal worth up to a reported £55million.

It may seem curious for Barca to be spending such amounts of money given the financial issues that meant they struggled to register new players at the start of the season until they had eased the wage bill, even leading to Lionel Messi having to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.

A recent bank loan has apparently enabled the deal, and Torres appears like the kind of forward-thinking signi…

Arsenal lose to West Ham and miss chance to return to Premier League summit

Arsenal missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League as they slipped to a disappointing defeat to West Ham amid more VAR controversy.

The Gunners needed victory to replace Liverpool at the summit but lost 2-0 on a night where Hammers boss David Moyes finally landed a victory at the Emirates Stadium.

West Ham lost Kurt Zouma ahead of the game and Lucas Paqueta after just over half an hour but hit the front through Tomas Soucek’s strike, awarded after VAR could not determine whether the whole ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

A second-half header from former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos secured the points and things could have been even better for the visitors had Said Benrahma not seen a last-gasp penalty saved by David Raya.…

Sunderland co-owners buy former chairman Stewart Donald’s remaining shares

Sunderland co-owners Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Juan Sartori have increased their respective stakes in the club and now own 100 per cent of the shares between them.

The Black Cats have announced chairman Louis-Dreyfus and Sartori have bought the remaining shares held by former Sunderland owner Stewart Donald.

A club statement read: “Sunderland AFC today announces that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has increased his shareholding in the club.

“Mr Louis-Dreyfus has increased his stake to 64 per cent, with Juan Sartori increasing his stake to 36 per cent.

“The shares have been acquired through the purchase of shares previously held by Stewart Donald, who has now exited the club’s shareholder group entirely. SAFC’s board of directors remains unchanged.”

De Bruyne at Man City: Chelsea trips and Madrid masterclass among games to remember

Kevin De Bruyne is staying at home after Manchester City announced he has extended his deal with the club.

The Belgian playmaker – who arrived from Wolfsburg in August 2015 – has signed for a further two years, meaning he will remain at the Etihad Stadium until 2025.

There have already been plenty of highlights in a City career that has included two Premier League titles, one FA Cup success and four triumphs in the EFL Cup.

Stats Perform News has picked out some of the most memorable peformances from De Bruyne, who has made a habit of producing his best in the biggest games, both domestically and in Europe.

The story continues! 

— Kevin De Bruyne (@DeBruyneKev)

 

Towering over the Parisians – Manchester City 1 Par…

Carlos Vinicius set for Fulham return after Galatasaray loan

Carlos Vinicius has left Fulham to spent the remainder of the season on loan with Galatasaray, but according to Fabrizio Romano, the Turkish club have no option to make the deal permanent when it expires and the striker is therefore set to return to Craven Cottage.

What the future holds for Vinicius, remains to be seen. He s been a Fulham player since joining from Benfica in 2022, but haven t been a backup for Aleksandar Mitrovic in his first season at the club, his role hasn t changed following the Serbian s departure to Saudi Arabia last summer. Instead of promoting him to a regular starter, Fulham signed Raul Jimenez from Wolverhampton Wanderers to lead their attacking line, which puts the faith of manager Marco Silva in Vinicius in question.

In all competitions, the…

Barcelona linked with Arsenal forward Kai Havertz

Barcelona are interested in signing Kai Havertz from Arsenal in the January transfer window, according to . The report in the Spanish publication has claimed Barcelona are monitoring the situation of Havertz and could make a bid for the Germany international forward in the middle of the season.

Havertz joined Arsenal from London and Premier League rivals Chelsea in the summer transfer window. The Arsenal no. 29 has made four starts and two substitute appearances in the Premier League, has played once in the UEFA Champions League, and has featured once in the Carabao Cup so far this season.

Barcelona are third in the La Liga table at the moment with 17 points from seven matches, two points behind leaders Girona. Meanwhile, Arsenal currently find themselves fifth in the P…

Colombia v Venezuela: Muriel not underestimating minnows

Colombia striker Luis Muriel expects Venezuela to be a fierce opponent as Reinaldo Rueda s side look to build on their opening victory in the Copa America.

Edwin Cardona scored the only goal of the game as Colombia kicked off their Group B campaign with a 1-0 win over Ecuador.

Los Cafeteros will be expected to win by a more handsome margin when they meet Venezuela in Goiania.

Colombia have not lost to Venezuela since the 2015 Copa America and face a side still missing key players after their squad was hit by a coronavirus outbreak prior to a 3-0 opening loss to Brazil.

But Muriel was impressed by what he saw from Venezuela even in defeat, and does not anticipate Colombia having it all their own way.

The game against Ecuador was very difficult, …