News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Jermain Defoe's record of scoring on his first appearance for every club he has played for came to an end as Sunderland lost 2-1 at his former club Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday.
Premier League clubs Watford and Hull City, and Championship side Leeds United paid the penalty for fielding weakened teams when they were all knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round on Sunday -- but holders Manchester United won comfortably.
A weekend of surprise results across Europe's big leagues saw Bayern Munich's unbeaten run come to an end, Napoli knocked off top spot in Serie A and Manchester City toppled in the Premier League where Leicester City are the new leaders.
Harry Kane's 101st Premier League goal was the difference as Tottenham Hotspur earned a 1-0 win over Arsenal, to continue their fine recent form in north London derbies in front of a Premier League record crowd at Wembley on Saturday.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were all on target as holders Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 on Wednesday to overturn a deficit from the first leg and advance to the quarter-finals of the King's Cup.
Newcastle United put their faith in Rafa Benitez on Friday, hoping the Spaniard will keep them in the Premier League after they won only six of 28 league games under the sacked Steve McClaren.
Fans are openly speculating that owner Roman Abramovich, a man who places notoriously high demands on his managers, could call time on Jose Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge if Liverpool can inflict another defeat on the champions.
Watford climbed into the top four of the Premier League after Tom Cleverley's 92nd-minute goal gave them a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga remains the club's first choice but manager Maurizio Sarri is still uncertain if the Spaniard will be recalled to the starting team for Sunday's Premier League trip to Fulham.
Manchester City produced a blistering first-half performance to win 4-1 at Sunderland in the League Cup third round on Tuesday, inflicting more misery on Dick Advocaat's struggling side.
Chelsea begin their Premier League title defence against Swansea City on Saturday in the unusual position of heading into a new season having been significantly outspent by their rivals.
Jamie Vardy's rise from the wilderness of non-League football to playing for England, scoring in 10 consecutive Premier League matches and leading Leicester City to the top of the table reads like a story from an outdated comic book.
Top-class goals from Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero took Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League in a 2-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Manchester City tightened their stranglehold at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday by trouncing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 as nearest rivals Manchester United suffered a chastening 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was named player of the month after scoring six goals in four league games.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Tuesday
Boko Haram, which has caused havoc in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country through a wave of bombings, assassinations and now abductions, cannot be viewed through the prism of religion alone. It is also a major political problem, says Confidence Uwazuruike.
With no European prizes left to chase this season, England's top clubs are focussed on winning the Premier League title, although that goal looks beyond all but Chelsea.
Arsenal's Olivier Giroud produced a piece of New Year's Day magic to keep Arsenal in sight of Premier League leaders Chelsea while Harry Kane's double bolstered Tottenham Hotspur's ambitions as London's triple assault on the title continues.
The Premier League's leading goalscorers will be on show at when surprise leaders Leicester City bid to move further ahead at the top with victory against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
"Our first half was fantastic, we dominated the game. The second is not easy to explain," a baffled Pochettino told reporters. "No-one would expect this end to the game if you see the first half. "We need to assess and analyse the second half because it is impossible to see the team playing in such a different way."
Jose Mourinho's side had paid lavish sums to bolster key areas by this time last year but, having claimed the title at a canter, the motto of this transfer window seems to be: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
As the black-tinted sports cars carrying Manchester United's millionaire footballers rolled into the club's Carrington complex for the start of pre-season training on Wednesday, no one wound down any windows to discuss the start of life under Jose Mourinho. But there was surely only one topic of conversation when the players began the hard task of proving to the new manager on the pitch that they can forge the sort of future he outlined so eloquently at his news conference the previous day.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal eased past second-tier Reading 2-0 with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring twice, while Newcastle United romped to a 6-0 win over 10-man Preston North End and Hull City won 2-1 at Bristol City.
- 'The match epitomised our season really' - 'Today we were the better side in the first half but you can't concede the goals we did'
Headers by Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic earned Manchester United an unconvincing 2-0 victory over Brighton and Hove Albion in a low-key FA Cup quarter-final played in freezing conditions on Saturday.
Leicester City has a chance to go top of the English Premier League table with a maximum nine points.
Of the 220 players who started for Premier League clubs at the weekend, only 73, or 33.2 per cent, were eligible to play for England.
Rediff.com brings you the top highlights of the soccer weekend.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Everton have agreed to sign Barcelona's Colombia centre back Yerry Mina for an initial 30.25 million euros ($34.97 million) and have also taken the club's midfielder Andre Gomes on loan, the Spanish champions said on Thursday.
Sam Allardyce has been named England manager on a two-year contract, the Football Association said in a statement on Friday.
Arsenal shoved Chelsea off the top of the table but Leicester City's Jamie Vardy, with a dazzling hat-trick, was the man of the moment on Saturday as the struggling Premier League champions blew aside Manchester City 4-2.
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has underscored the unpredictable nature of the Premier League this season, stating that it seemed as if "nobody wants to win the league".
Harry Kane may have had his thunder as England's brightest young strike hope stolen of late by Jamie Vardy but Tottenham Hotspur's own home-polished jewel sparkled once more on his 100th appearance for the club on Saturday.
Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at surprise league leaders Leicester City on Monday, their ninth loss in 16 league games since the start of a season that has gone spectacularly wrong, proved to be the final straw.
Liverpool named former Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp as manager on Thursday with the club posting photos of him signing his contract on their official Twitter account.
Manchester City can pile the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea for the first time this season.
