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Mikel Arteta reckons Arsenal must be perfect to beat Chelsea on Sunday as he looks to get the north London club back among the Premier League challengers.

The Gunners started the new top-flight campaign in lacklustre fashion, going down to promoted Brentford 2-0 in the opening game.

A derby with Thomas Tuchel s side is next up and, after defeating Chelsea 3-1 in the same fixture last term, Arteta knows what it will take to be successful again at Emirates Stadium.

What we have to do is perform, perform at the highest level, he replied when asked in a pre-match media conference if a draw would be a positive result.

We know that to beat Chelsea we need to be perfect.

Individually and collectively, we have to have an extraordinary game.…

Stefano Pioli insisted Milan are well-equipped to challenge for the Serie A title after they made a winning start to the season.

Milan launched their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, where Brahim Diaz netted the decisive goal after just nine minutes on Monday.

Pioli handed a debut to new signing and goalkeeper Mike Maignan, while Olivier Giroud also made his bow in the absence of injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.

Despite injury ruling out Franck Kessie, Rade Krunic produced an assured performance in midfield and there was no change allowed from the central defensive pairing of Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori – the pair helping the Rossoneri keep a sixth consecutive clean sheet, their longest run without concedi…

(GSM) Gabriel Milito is ready to make his comeback for Barcelona after a year and a half of injury worries. The Argentine defender already got the all-clear to return to first-team action late November and has been included in the match selection for the crucial game against Dynamo Kiev. Milito is expected to start on the bench.

The 29-year-old centre half sustained a knee ligament injury in the Champions League match against Manchester United in April 2008 and has been at the sidelines since then. A week ago, Barcelona announced that Milito had recovered from his injury. The Argentina international was overlooked for the league matches against Xerez and Deportivo La Coruna, but Barca coach Guardiola has named him in a 19-man traveling party for the trip to the Ukraine.

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Matt Taylor picked out Bristol Rovers’ first-half performance and the form of striker Chris Martin as the foundations for a first Sky Bet League One victory in five games.

Martin and Luke Thomas found the net inside the first quarter of the match to put the Pirates in control, and after Mark Harris had pulled one back, Harvey Vale sealed Rovers’ first win of 2024.

“We took responsibility and played forward more and got ourselves up the pitch,” said Taylor. “We know we’ve got enough quality if we’re there to hurt the opposition.

“So I was pleased with that start and then the goals were a bonus. Two really good goals (in the first half). Chris Martin’s in terms of a breakaway and a cross, and he’s in fantastic form at the moment.

“We s…

Mark Hughes is dreaming of the Capital One Cup final as his Stoke City side pr
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epare to take on Birmingham City in the fourth round.

Stoke s last Wembley experience came in 2011 when they finished as FA Cup runners-up, but Hughes has visions of taking them there again in his first season in charge at the Britannia Stadium.

However, the Welshman is not prepared to risk playing his first-choice XI as he attempts to juggle league and cup campaigns.

We will be strong on Tuesday, said Hughes. I always pick strong sides for cup games.

It s a competition that we want to progress in, so we will go to Birmingham and look to win the game, and secure a spot in the last eight.

I will make changes some will be enforced and others will be to give other players…

Jurgen Klopp has been named as Liverpool s new manager.

Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers last Sunday after an underwhelming start to the season, and the club have moved quickly to replace him with former Borussia Dortmund boss Klopp. 

Klopp, who left Dortmund at the end of last season, has jumped at the chance to manage Liverpool, who have won just two of their last nine games in all competitions.

The 48-year-old s seven-year spell at Signal Iduna Park yielded two Bundesliga titles, a DFB-Pokal and a run to the 2013 Champions League final, where Dortmund were beaten by domestic rivals Bayern Munich.

Upon leaving Dortmund in May, Klopp insisted he would take a sabbatical from the game to recharge his batteries.

However, the lure of Liverpool …

Sevilla’s quest to win the La Liga title this season suffered a blow on Saturday afternoon, as they went down 2-0 to Barcelona at home.

Ousmane Dembele put Barcelona in the lead after 29 minutes when Lionel Messi put him through on goal at Estadio Raman Sanchez Pizjuan.

Argentine forward Messi himself doubled the advantage for the Blaugrana five minutes before the full-time whistle.

There could have been more goals in the La Liga game in Andalucia.

Sergino Dest hit the post for Barcelona, and his Barcelona teammate Clement Lenglet had a headed goal disallowed for offside. Youssef En-Nesyri also had a goal for Sevilla ruled out for offside.

The result means that Barcelona are now second in the La Liga table with 53 points from 25 matches.

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Jean-Clair Todibo set an unwanted record on Sunday after being sent off just nine seconds into Nice s Ligue 1 clash with Angers.

The former Barcelona defender was given his marching orders after a clumsy tackle on Abdallah Sima when he was the last man, leading to a swift decision from the referee.

Todibo s dismissal was the fastest card – yellow or red – shown in Ligue 1 since Opta started collecting data in the league in the 2006/07 season.

Nice made a number of high-profile moves in the transfer window but are still waiting on their first Ligue 1 win of the season.

Straight from kick-off, Angers move forward, and commits a foul. The referee then wastes no time in getting the red card out! Le Gym are down to ten men just seconds into the game …

Schalke know they have to defeat Basel at the Veltins Arena in order to reach the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The Gelsenkirchen outfit occupy third spot in Group E and saw their hopes of progression dented by a 0-0 draw at Steaua Bucharest in matchday five.

Basel, by contrast, climbed into second with a 1-0 victory over group leaders Chelsea and head into Wednesday’s pivotal encounter one point ahead of their hosts.

Both teams could still overhaul Chelsea, who welcome Steaua to Stamford Bridge, and win the group with victory, yet Basel need only a point to be sure of qualifying.

History is against the Swiss outfit, however, as they have won just three times in 14 attempts against Bundesliga opposition in UEFA competition.

Basel s last visit to G…

Norwegian outfit Molde have confirmed they have received several formal requests from clubs wanting to speak to coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Former Manchester United striker Solskjaer scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for the English giants before returning to his native Norway.

Since taking over at Molde in 2011, Solskjaer has led the side to two league titles and they won the Norwegian Cup against Rosenborg last month.

The 40-year-old has been strongly linked with the recently vacant positions at Premier League clubs West Brom and Tottenham, and managing director at Molde, Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen, admitted several clubs were keen on speaking with Solskjaer.

I can confirm that we have received formal requests, but will not say when they arrived or where they …