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As per usual for a Friday, there will be a plethora of Premier League manager press conferences coming up around lunchtime. Stay tuned.
Fifa has allocated $1m (£830,000) to its Fifa Foundation to provide humanitarian aid to people affected by the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has climbed over 43,000, and millions are in need of humanitarian aid after being left homeless and without basic amenities.
Fifa said it had consulted with the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and the Syrian Football Association (SFA), as well as “international and local non-governmental organisations”.
“The aid will be used to purchase and distribute essential humanitarian items, as well as to provide emergency and temporary shelter and protection,” Fifa said in a statement.
“Fifa will continue to collaborate with the TFF and SFA, while monitoring the situation and deciding on further action.” (Reuters)
Let’s talk Manchester United. Let’s talk Marcus Rashford.
Let’s read Jonathan Liew’s piece from Barcelona last night, on how Erik Ten Hag has succeeded in unlocking the forward’s seemingly limitless potential:
Having been asked for thoughts on the football, lancaster43 comments: “I like it.”
That’s the kind of insight, and the kind of content, that gets me out of bed in the morning.
The England defender Tyrone Mings has signed a new contract at Aston Villa, it has emerged:
Man admits assaulting Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale after Tottenham match
A 35-year-old man has admitted assaulting the Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of the north London derby.
“What mattress does he use?”
When it comes to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s sleeping arrangements, Sean Dyche intends to find out. Andy Hunter reports on Everton’s attempt to get to the bottom of the forward’s persistent fitness issues:
A bit of Merseyside derby news that emerged yesterday – ICYMI, and all that:
Liverpool and Everton have been charged by the Football Association following a “mass confrontation” between their players during Monday’s Merseyside derby in the Premier League.
The incident took place in the 86th minute, which Liverpool won 2-0 at Anfield.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and Liverpool defender Andy Robertson were both booked after a clash near the touchline before the incident escalated, with a number of players and substitutes from both teams becoming involved.
“It’s alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players and/or benches failed to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion, and/or refrained from provocative behaviour,” the FA said in a statement.
The clubs have until 20 February to respond to the charges. (Reuters)
Leitzig, Nobbs, Blundell, Hanson, Kelly or England … who is your Women’s Super League player of the month? You can register your vote here.
Another sub-plot in today’s football – actually, in fairness, it’s a full-blown plot: the takeover race for Manchester United.
The deadline for bids is 10pm tonight. Jamie Jackson assesses the task for the owner and some key ‘dos and don’ts’, whoever it turns out to be:
Just a couple of days ago, Neil Warnock was sipping a negroni or two at a New York jazz club … but now he’s back in the UK, and manager of Huddersfield!
John Brewin reports:
Thoughts on the football? You can email me, get in touch on Twitter, or comment BTL.
A little more from Eddie Howe now, courtesy of Newcastle’s social media operatives.
On the Magpies’ home form:
“It’s been pivotal. We’ve enjoyed playing at home. I think, lately, we’ve been a bit frustrated as we’ve want more goals and clear cut chances. Teams have defended well against us with a clear plan and it’s up to us to find solutions.”
On the late Sir Bobby Robson, who would have turned 90 tomorrow: “I consider myself unfortunate not to have met him but I’ve heard lots of stories about him from people connected to the club. He did incredible things for this football club.”
Sky Sports News just ran an interview with Odsonne Édouard, the Crystal Palace forward, whose return of five goals so far this season is not as many as he (or his manager Patrick Vieira) would like.
“We don’t score enough. We need to improve in every aspect,” Édouard says. “… We need to have more balance in the midfield … I need to score more goals, I need to give more assists. Sometimes it’s like this, it’s hard, but I need to keep working to help the team.
“This moment is hard, especially for a striker. You have to keep working, to never give up, and my time will come. It’s all you can do. I just need to score one goal, and that’s it. Yeah, just keep working.”
Barcelona and Manchester United drew 2-2 in a Europa League playoff last night. It sounded like a cracker, but Erik Ten Hag believes his side should have had more, insisting that Jules Koundé should have been sent off for a foul on Marcus Rashford when the Red Devils led 2-1:
The Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, hopes to have striker Callum Wilson and midfielder Joe Willock fit for next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final. Wilson missed last weekend’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Bournemouth with a hamstring problem, and Willock was forced off at the Vitality Stadium with a similar injury.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s league meeting with Liverpool, Howe said: “Callum has done really well. As we said at the time, it was a very minor complaint for him. He hasn’t trained yet, we hope he trains today and then he’s in contention.
“Joe, we haven’t seen yet. I think he’ll be doubtful for the game tomorrow. We don’t think it’s a big injury at all, it’s a very minor complaint with his hamstring, so we hope to get him back very quickly.”
Asked if Willock had a chance of facing Manchester United at Wembley, Howe, who confirmed Miguel Almirón and Allan Saint-Maximin had not suffered any significant damage at Bournemouth, said: “Yes, definitely there’s a chance.”
He added: “As I said after the game, we didn’t think Miggy’s was bad, he took a knock on his hand. It was enough for him to come off in the game, but it wasn’t enough to give him any long-term damage. Maxi was pretty quickly back on his feet and was OK, so pretty early we knew that those injuries weren’t serious. Joe was the big concern and, after a scan, we got some good news that it’s not serious.” (PA Media)
Let’s crank things up another notch with 10 things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend:
On Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, Arteta’s compatriot, the former Arsenal manager: “He will always put a very difficult test. He is a very good manager,” Arteta says. “I have huge respect for him, and for what he has done at every club he has been and the success he has had. Big respect for him.”
Of the loss against City, Arteta believes Arsenal were the architects of their own downfall: “You have to give credit to a team when they beat you, but when you analyse the game again, I think we lost it.”
As for a fitness update from the Gunners, Arteta said that Thomas Partey continues to suffer from a back muscle problem and will be assessed before tomorrow’s match at Aston Villa. So there is a chance he will be involved.
Gabriel Jesus is still out, although getting closer to fitness, but in better news, Emile Smith Rowe will be training today. “If he’s fine [after training], he will be in the squad,” Arteta says of Smith Rowe.
Arsenal 'highly motivated' for title challenge, says Arteta
The Arsenal head coach, Mikel Arteta, is naturally staying upbeat despite giving up top spot in the Premier League this week after the 3-1 defeat by Manchester City.
“I know the right things we have to do to continue to be there [at the top],” Arteta said. “We have seen where the level is and what we have to do to be at that level, we are in that journey. There are a lot of positive things to take from the season … I have seen it with my eyes … We know that the level of efficiency has to be good with every single ball to beat them [Manchester City] at the end. I repeat myself but the team are highly motivated to do that. If you want to win the league you are going to have to dig deep … you have to win in many different contexts.”
Asked what his minimum expectation for the season is – EG Champions League qualification – Arteta refuses to look too far ahead: “The minimum is today that they need to train exceptionally well - that is the minimum.”
Regarding Arsenal’s recent slump, the Spaniard says: “We have to look at ourselves. We have to be more efficient - with amount of play and situations we generated we haven’t had enough points. That is down to us, we have to improve on that because we want to win more games. So we are highly motivated for tomorrow’s game because we want to perform well and win the game.”
Football. There is more of it happening this weekend. As I type, football managers are speaking to football journalists around the country. So let’s get straight to the football.
Eddie Howe’s having a chat now, before Newcastle’s meeting against Liverpool tomorrow, and Mikel Arteta has already spoken to media as he surveys the wreckage of Arsenal’s title challenge prepares his Gunners team to bounce back at Aston Villa tomorrow lunchtime, following defeat by Manchester City in midweek.
Football!
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