When you think about the most iconic fixtures in English football, the north London derby is surely right up there.

Arsenal and Tottenham have played out some classic contests down the years, many of which have been goalfests.

But Thursday s clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is arguably among the most important derbies between Spurs and the Gunners in the Premier League era.

With three matches remaining, four points separate the two teams in the table – Arsenal occupy fourth, the final Champions League spot, while Spurs remain set on pushing them all the way.

Of course, Spurs will need Arsenal to drop points in one of their two remaining matches as well to have any hope of usurping them, but victory for Antonio Conte s men on Thursday will at leas…

Leicester City came back from two goals down to beat Spartak Moscow 4-3 in Russia, with Patson Daka incredibly scoring all four goals for the Foxes in a Europa League classic.

The hosts took the lead through Alexander Sobolev s deflected opener, with Jordan Larsson finishing calmly in the 44th minute to double their advantage.

Daka scored his first almost immediately after, however, and then grabbed a second just after the break before tucking home in the 54th minute to complete a nine-minute treble.

The Zambian striker was not done there, however, lashing in his fourth with 12 minutes of normal time remaining a necessary goal for the Foxes as Sobolev set up a nervy finish with an 86th-minute strike.

Victory sees Brendan Rodgers side earn their first …

Real Madrid are interested in signing Bayern Munich winger Jamal Musiala, according to . The report has claimed that Madrid were impressed by the display produced by Musiala against them in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final tie and are now going to keep an eye on him.

The report, though, has noted that it is not going to be easy for Madrid to get a deal done with Bayern for Musiala. The German giants do not plan to sell the 21-year-old, who can play as an attacking midfielder or as a winger. The Germany international also has a good contract with Bayern.

Musiala has been on the books of Bayern since 2019 and has established himself as one of the best young players in the Bundesliga. The youngster has scored 10 goals and given six assists in 20 starts…

Thomas Bach denied the International Olympic Committee biding its time over deciding whether Russia and Belarus athletes can compete at Paris 2024 amounted to kicking it down the road .

IOC president Bach spoke on Tuesday at a press conference after interim recommendations were issued to international federations and organisers of events regarding the involvement of Russians and Belarusians in events while war in Ukraine continues.

The Olympic body urged federations to exclude any athletes or support personnel who actively support the war , along with anybody contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies , and said teams from either country should not be allowed to compete in international sport for now.

However, in a statement, t…

Two goals in five second-half minutes from Fabian Schar and Harvey Barnes saw Newcastle come from behind to stun Wolves with a 2-1 win at Molineux on Sunday.

Mario Lemina had given the hosts the lead after rounding off a free-flowing counterattack late in the first half, sweeping home following a clever dummy from Joao Gomes.

Newcastle had earlier struck the post through Anthony Gordon, but Eddie Howe s men struggled to carve out any clear-cut chances before a series of half-time changes prompted an improvement.

Schar’s deflected strike levelled the scores with 15 minutes to play, then substitute Barnes went one better by curling a stunning effort beyond Sam Johnstone to secure the triumph.

The result keeps Wolves in the bottom three with just a single …

Wales eased to a 2-0 win over Group E s bottom side Azerbaijan in Baku on Saturday to ensure their Euro 2020 qualification bid will go down to the wire.

Kieffer Moore scored for the second away game running to get Ryan Giggs side off the mark inside 10 minutes and Harry Wilson on target in Wales last away win 11 months ago added a second before half-time.

Despite creating chances there were no further goals for the visitors, who are already guaranteed the cushion of at least a play-off place, regardless of where they finish in their qualifying group.

Wales are now unbeaten in five games since back-to-back away losses in June and are within a point of second-place Hungary, who they face in their final qualifier on Tuesday, while Slovakia are a point behind and hav…

England 2018 bid chiefs have written to all members of FIFA s executive stressing they ve had nothing to do with two recent British media probes into corruption allegations surrounding the World Cup bidding process.

The letter, a copy of which has been seen by AFP, urges all members of the 24-man FIFA executive committee which will vote for the 2018 World Cup hosts on December 2 to avoid making negative judgements about the bid as a result of the media furore.

There are concerns amongst the England 2018 team of a possible anti-English backlash as a result of an investigation by the Sunday Times newspaper which has led to several FIFA members facing an ethics committee probe.

And they fear an edition of the BBC s Panorama programme investigating alleged FIFA corr…

Joshua Zirkzee was a surprise omission from Ronald Koeman s Netherlands squad for Euro 2024, as Frenkie de Jong made the selection.

A 30-man preliminary squad was confirmed on Thursday, with that pool to be whittled down to 26 for the tournament, which starts on June 14.

The Netherlands have been drawn against France, Austria and Poland in Group D, and Koeman somewhat surprisingly did not include in-form Bologna attacker Zirkzee, who has scored 12 goals this season, propelling his side towards Champions League qualification.

Koeman has preferred to go with the experienced Wout Weghorst, along with Memphis Depay and Brian Brobbey.

De Jong, though, did make the cut despite having not played for Barcelona in close to a month due to an ankle issue.

Ry…

Frenkie de Jong has returned to non-contact training with the Netherlands as he steps up his recovery from an ankle injury, but he may not make their Euro 2024 opener against Poland.

De Jong was included in Ronald Koeman s final 26-man squad for the Euros despite an ankle issue preventing him from featuring for Barcelona since a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid on April 21.

He made 30 appearances across all competitions as the Blaugrana endured a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, finishing well adrift of Madrid at the top of LaLiga and exiting the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.

He has been a fixture in the Oranje side since making his senior international debut in 2018, and Koeman is hopeful he might play a part in Group D fixtures against…

Mauricio Pochettino expressed frustration that Chelsea’s injury problems are being unfairly ignored in assessments of his team’s poor performances this season.

The Argentinian has rarely had fewer than seven players unavailable to him during what has been at best a patchy campaign.

Results have fluctuated drastically and the last week has been a stark example, with Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Aston Villa in the FA Cup coming directly off the back of a 4-2 loss to Wolves at Stamford Bridge.

Together.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)

That defeat, the 10th of Pochettino’s 23 Premier League games in charge, left the team 11th in the table.

The manager is unhappy that the impact of absences on his team’s form is not being acknowledged by cri…