West Ham United maintained their impressive start to the season when they beat champions Manchester City 2-1 at Upton Park on Saturday to consolidate their place in the top four of the Premier League.
Bookmakers were busy slashing the odds on Louis van Gaal to be replaced in the Manchester United hotseat by Jose Mourinho on Saturday after a 2-1 home defeat to struggling Norwich City in the Premier League.
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.
Lecister City's dynamic duo Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are not for sale at any price, manager Claudio Ranieri asserted after the pair combined again to fire their team back to the top of the Premier League.
Louis van Gaal praised his side's attacking display against West Ham United but said they 'forgot to score goals' after a fourth 0-0 draw in their last six home matches on Saturday.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was named player of the month after scoring six goals in four league games.
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.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Tuesday
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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- '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'
Leicester City has a chance to go top of the English Premier League table with a maximum nine points.
Liverpool had won each of their previous four home leagues games in which they conceded first and 12 minutes later they had turned another match on its head as Roberto Firmino's trickery set up Mane to give the hosts the lead at the second attempt.
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.
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.
Sam Allardyce has been named England manager on a two-year contract, the Football Association said in a statement on Friday.
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.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
A fortunate 85th-minute goal from Brazilian Willian earned Premier League champions Chelsea a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday after Mohamed Salah's 15th goal of the season looked to have given the hosts the three points.
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.
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